The controversy surrounding the Central Board of Secondary Education's (CBSE) on-screen marking (OSM) system escalated on Tuesday after Class 12 student Sarthak Sidhant appeared before a Parliamentary standing committee and presented his findings on alleged irregularities in the tendering process linked to the digital evaluation system.
The Parliamentary standing committee on education, women, children, youth and sports, chaired by Congress member of Parliament (MP) Digvijaya Singh, is examining concerns related to the implementation of the OSM system in CBSE Class 12 examinations, including transparency, evaluation accuracy, and accountability.
According
to reports by ANI and
NDTV, Sidhant, who gained attention after publishing a detailed analysis of CBSE's OSM tender process on his website, appeared before the panel at Parliament House Annexe and outlined what he described as discrepancies in successive tender documents.
Speaking to ANI ahead of the meeting, Sidhant said his analysis identified at least 15 discrepancies across multiple tender documents.
According to ANI, he alleged that several eligibility and technical criteria governing the OSM contract were altered over time, including provisions on poor performance records, blacklisting, financial qualifications, capability maturity model integration (CMMI) requirements, and project eligibility conditions.
"The first discrepancy is that in the old tender, there were three clauses of poor performance, that the service provider would be disqualified if they have poor performance. But in the new RFP, it was totally wiped out," Sidhant told the agency.
His research, he said, was carried out with the assistance of ethical hacker Nisarg Adhikari and journalists who had been examining the issue.
According to reports, Sidhant argued before the committee that certain changes in tender conditions appeared to favour a particular service provider, Coempt EduTeck Pvt Ltd, which was awarded the contract for scanning and digital evaluation of answer sheets.
NDTV, citing sources, reported that committee members were impressed by the depth of research presented by the 17-year-old student. According to the report, one member even remarked that CBSE should consider appointing him as an adviser.
It also reported that CBSE officials attending the meeting were unaware in advance that Sidhant would be making a presentation before the panel.
Quoting sources, the report from NDTV says that the committee members asked CBSE officials to explain the issues raised by the student and to account for the tendering process. The board is expected to provide detailed responses during the committee's next meeting.
Sources quoted by the news channel said members also wanted CBSE to identify responsibility for any lapses and clarify whether disciplinary action had been initiated.
Despite raising concerns about the tender process, Sidhant clarified that he was not opposed to the concept of digital evaluation itself.
According to ANI, he said the OSM system represented a positive reform but required more extensive pilot testing before nationwide implementation.
"I think OSM is a good change, but there should be wide rollouts first and good demo pilots," he said.
The student has previously argued that the concerns relate to implementation and procurement processes rather than the technology itself.
The standing committee is also hearing accounts from students affected by the OSM system and reviewing complaints regarding evaluation discrepancies, technical glitches and challenges encountered during post-result verification.
According to media reports, the committee has summoned school education and literacy secretary Sanjay Kumar and CBSE chairperson Rahul Singh to brief members on the rollout of the system and address concerns raised by students.
The panel has also called the director general of the Indian computer emergency response team (CERT-In), indicating that lawmakers may examine cybersecurity, data integrity and technological safeguards associated with the digital evaluation framework.
Committee chairman Mr Singh told reporters that the panel would examine the issues raised and await CBSE's response before deciding on further action, according to media reports.
The matter has attracted growing attention from policymakers and education stakeholders.
According to reports, the Union ministry of education has sought a detailed report from CBSE regarding the OSM tender process and allegations surrounding its implementation.
The controversy centres on the digital evaluation system used for assessing Class 12 answer sheets, with critics seeking greater transparency in both procurement procedures and examination assessment mechanisms.
Apart from the OSM issue, the Parliamentary standing committee is also reviewing the implementation of the three-language formula for Classes 9 and 10.
As the committee continues its examination of the matter, students, parents and education experts are awaiting CBSE's response to the allegations and the panel's recommendations on the future of the digital evaluation system.
Meanwhile,
in a post on X, CBSE says, while thousands of students accessed the re-evaluation portal today, malicious actors attempted to disrupt services through a barrage of cyberattacks. "Most recent being a denial of service attack attempt causing 1.5mn (million) hits on the portal within a matter of 2 minutes and more than 1 lakh attempts of unauthorised file access. Based on student feedback, we have further refined the platform, including extending session time limits to make the process more convenient and seamless."
They should be given life imprisonment
or hang to death even if found ineligible or involved and then only their can be some justice.