‘I wanted to know why my marks were low’:Sarthak questions why CBSE tender was given to insecure platform

Complaints about blurred answer-sheet copies and evaluation errors in CBSE’s new On-Screen Marking (OSM) system prompted 17-year-old Sarthak Siddhant from Ranchi to investigate the issue. A Class 12 student from the 2024–26 batch, Sarthak examined 576 CBSE tender-related documents and published his findings on a blog, alleging major irregularities in the awarding of the OSM contract. The impact of his revelations reached Parliament. A Parliamentary Standing Committee took cognisance of the issue, following which the government removed CBSE Chairman Rahul Singh and Secretary Himanshu Gupta from their posts.
CBSE had declared the Class 12 results on 13 May. For the first time, answer sheets had been evaluated through the OSM system. After the results were announced, many students raised concerns about their marks, leading to a wider investigation into the entire process. Read the interview with Sarthak Siddhant How did you first suspect there was a problem with the OSM system? Nisarg Adhikari, who is also a Class 12 student, had written several blog posts about glitches in the OSM system. When he showed me his findings, I began wondering why CBSE had awarded a contract to a platform that appeared insecure. I searched for the relevant tender documents. Since I could not find them on the government portal, I located them through a tender aggregator website. My research revealed multiple issues, which I then documented on my blog. What were your Class 12 marks? What made you suspect you had been awarded lower marks? My marks were decent, but I was somewhat disappointed. I therefore applied for re-evaluation because I felt I deserved higher marks. Many of my friends felt the same way. Several students believed they had received lower marks than expected. What did you present before the Parliamentary Committee? I presented the conclusions I reached after studying more than 500 pages of tender-related documents. I identified several irregularities in the tender process and explained how the company COEMPT had allegedly violated the prescribed conditions. What was discussed during your interaction with Rahul Gandhi? He asked detailed questions about the OSM portal. He sought point-by-point information about the flaws identified in the tender process and the manner in which the alleged irregularities occurred. Did you hack the CBSE website to obtain this information? No. I am an ethical hacker and have previously identified vulnerabilities in various websites, but I did not hack the CBSE website. Nisarg Adhikari, a Class 12 student, had accessed the system and written about it on his blog. That increased my curiosity, and I gathered evidence of alleged irregularities through research and document analysis. Student tells parliamentary panel about 15 alleged flaws Re-evaluation portal hit by cyber attack CBSE’s re-evaluation portal came under a cyber attack shortly after it opened. According to CBSE, around 1.5 million access attempts were recorded within two minutes. More than 100,000 attempts were allegedly made to gain unauthorised access to system files. Despite the attack, the portal continued functioning. By 3 pm, more than 16,000 students had submitted applications. The portal had originally been scheduled to open on Monday. Sarthak briefed the parliamentary committee Sarthak Siddhant presented his views before Parliament’s Standing Committee regarding the implementation of the OSM system and alleged irregularities in the tender process. He told the committee- According to my blog, there are at least 15 flaws. Following his presentation, the Ministry of Education sought a report from CBSE regarding the board’s decision to award the tender to COEMPT. Committee chairman Digvijaya Singh said- Sarthak has presented his views before the committee. The committee will now examine the issues raised by him along with CBSE’s responses. Two students who highlighted problems in the OSM system Vedant Srivastava: Board later apologised Vedant Srivastava from Delhi also appeared for the Class 12 board examination. After receiving 65 marks in Physics, he challenged the result. When he obtained a copy of his answer sheet through re-evaluation, errors were reportedly identified. Initially, he faced trolling on social media, with some users even calling him a traitor. Later, however, the board acknowledged the mistake and apologised. Sarthak Siddhant: Exam candidate turned investigator Seventeen-year-old Sarthak Siddhant is a tech researcher who also appeared for the examination. Rather than limiting himself to raising concerns as a student, he carried out extensive document-based research. By analysing and comparing 576 documents released by CBSE, he claimed to have uncovered irregularities in the tender process. Timeline: What happened from results to re-evaluation? 13 May- CBSE declared the Class 12 board examination results. 19 May- The re-evaluation portal opened to address post-result complaints but crashed on the very first day. 20–23 May- The deadline for obtaining photocopies of answer sheets was extended three times, one day at a time. Students complained about blurred copies, high fees and repeated website crashes. 25 May- CBSE sought assistance from two IITs to stabilise the portal and strengthen protection against cyber attacks. The board announced that the re-evaluation portal would reopen on 1 June. 1 June- The OSM re-evaluation portal failed to open throughout the day. 2 June- CBSE announced that the portal was operational and stated that it would remain open until 6 June. ​