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India CBSE 17-year-old whistleblower tells Parliament how OSM tender was rigged
Sarthak Sidhant presented a detailed analysis of procurement documents related to the digital evaluation platform. His findings were based on documents accessed on Central Public Procurement portal
- PUBLISHED: Tue 2 Jun 2026, 4:05 PM UPDATED: Tue 2 Jun 2026, 7:24 PM
A class XII student whistleblower, who had raised issues relating to evaluation errors and on the rollout of the ‘On-screen marking’ (OSM) system of India’s Central Board of Secondary Education, appeared before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education in Delhi on Tuesday, to highlight issues faced by several students and the discrepancies in evaluated answer scripts.
Sarthak Sidhant, the student, had questioned the discrepancies between the physical and digital versions of answer sheets evaluated under the OSM system. He also came out with a detailed analysis of procurement documents related to the digital evaluation platform.
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Sidhant had earlier told the media that he had come across 15 discrepancies and many eligibility and qualification criteria in the tenders had been altered. His findings were based on documents accessed on the Central Public Procurement portal, he said.
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Also on Tuesday, the Indian government transferred the chairman of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), Rahul Singh, and its secretary, Himanshu Gupta, besides ordering an inquiry into the ‘On-screen marking’ (OSM) system.
It also set up a one-member committee to probe into matters related to the procurement of services for OSM. The move follows a massive controversy over the CBSE’s evaluation and post-result processes and other irregularities in contracts.
The committee will probe the procurement of OSM services, which has raked a controversy. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has demanded an independent judicial inquiry into the scam.
Modernise the evaluation process
The CBSE introduced the OSM for class XII board exams this year to modernise the evaluation process. The board had claimed that it would result in faster evaluation, reduce manual intervention and remove totalling errors. But after the results were declared, students came across a range of issues such as answer-sheet mismatches, and the accuracy of the evaluation.
Earlier, in his blog, Sidhant had alleged that the eligibility and technical requirements had been modified to benefit the company linked to the OSM system. “In the old tender there were three clauses of poor performance and the service provider would be disqualified if they have poor performance,” he said in the blog. “But in the new ‘Request for proposal’ tender, it was totally wiped out.”
He said his research was based on the support of an ethical hacker and journalists probing the matter.
Congress parliamentarian Digvijay Singh, who is chairing the standing committee, said it would now consider the response of the CBSE.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also lashed out at the BJP-led NDA government. “17-year-old Sarthak Sidhant has exposed how CBSE manipulated its own selection process to benefit COEMPT, using CBSE’s own documents,” he posted on ‘X’. “The details in his blog reveal how CBSE changed the RFP to unduly benefit COEMPT, at the cost of TCS. He has revealed the hollowness of (education minister) Dharmendra Pradhan ji’s denials. The PM remains silent, as usual.
The question is simple: who are they protecting, and why? An independent judicial inquiry is now essential to uncover the full extent of this scam. Sarthak’s work shows that India’s Gen Z is brilliant and fearless. And sooner or later, they will find out the full truth," Gandhi added.
Coempt Edu Tech of Hyderabad won the CBSE’s digital evaluation contract, narrowly overtaking Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in the technical assessment and offering a lower financial bid, according to media reports.
