Congress leader Rahul Gandhi met with Sarthak Sidhant, a Jharkhand student, who recently presented his findings on alleged irregularities in the Central Board of Secondary Education’s (CBSE) online marking system before a parliamentary committee. Gandhi shared photographs of their meeting on social media, encouraging Sidhant to “stand firm on your principles,” and tagged it with #TenderInvestigator.
Sidhant, who appeared for the CBSE Class 12 examinations this year, briefed the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth, and Sports about his concerns over the vendor selection process for the board’s On-Screen Marking (OSM) system. He submitted a seven-page document outlining what he described as irregularities in the tendering process and raised several questions for CBSE officials.
The committee, chaired by Congress MP Digvijaya Singh, included the CBSE Chairman Rahul Singh and School Education Secretary Sanjay Kumar among other senior officials from the Ministry of Education. The panel had summoned these officials in response to increasing concerns about the OSM system, which has been the subject of complaints from students regarding technical glitches, evaluation discrepancies, and difficulties with the post-result verification process.
During the meeting, committee members questioned the board’s preparedness for the introduction of online marking, expressing concerns about system testing and teacher training. Some MPs called for accountability regarding the issues faced by students, suggesting remedies such as compensation through grace marks or expedited evaluations.
CBSE officials informed the committee that the technical issues impacting the system had been addressed, assuring that students would have until June 6 to apply for re-evaluation of their answer sheets. The board also submitted a report detailing its stance on the controversy.
Following the meeting, Digvijaya Singh stated that the committee’s priority remained the concerns of students. When asked about his satisfaction with the CBSE’s responses, he replied, “That is for the committee to decide.”
