'Tender investigator': Rahul Gandhi meets 17-year-old student who exposed CBSE-OSM anomalies

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday met Jharkhand student Sarthak Sidhant, the teenager who recently presented his findings on alleged irregularities in the CBSE's online marking system before a parliamentary panel. Sharing photographs of the meeting on social media, Gandhi praised the student and wrote, “Sarthak, stand firm on your principles. #TenderInvestigator”.


The meeting came hours after Sidhant, who appeared for the CBSE Class 12 examinations this year, briefed the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports about alleged anomalies in the tendering process used to select vendors for the board's On-Screen Marking (OSM) system.



Sidhant presented a seven-page document before the committee, chaired by Congress MP Digvijaya Singh, outlining what he described as irregularities in the vendor selection process and raising a series of questions for CBSE officials. His presentation was made in the presence of CBSE Chairman Rahul Singh, School Education Secretary Sanjay Kumar and other senior officials from the Ministry of Education.

The parliamentary panel had summoned CBSE and education ministry officials amid growing concerns over the OSM system, which has been at the centre of complaints from students regarding technical glitches, evaluation discrepancies and difficulties during the post-result verification process.

During the meeting, members also questioned the board's preparedness before introducing online marking, including concerns over system testing and teacher training. Some MPs reportedly sought accountability for the problems faced by students and suggested measures such as compensation through grace marks or faster evaluation.

CBSE officials told the committee that technical issues affecting the system had been rectified and that students would continue to have until June 6 to apply for re-evaluation of their answer sheets. The board also submitted a report outlining its position on the controversy.

After the meeting, Digvijaya Singh said the committee's focus remained on addressing students' concerns. Asked whether he was satisfied with the CBSE's responses, he replied, “That is for the committee to decide.”