Rahul Gandhi lauds student whistleblower on CBSE OSM flaws

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi praised student whistleblower Sarthak Sidhant and his associate Nisarga Adhikary for exposing alleged irregularities in the Central Board of Secondary Education's On-Screen Marking system. Gandhi shared a video of his meeting with Sidhant on Sunday, June 7, and framed the students' actions as a victory for youth and a defeat for the government.

Sidhant, an 18-year-old student affected by the OSM system, has alleged vulnerabilities and procedural flaws in the tendering process used to select a vendor for the digital evaluation of Class 12 board examinations. He presented these allegations to a parliamentary panel earlier this week. In the video, Sidhant outlined his investigation, which began after ethical hacker Nisarga Adhikary shared details of alleged security flaws. Sidhant claimed the CBSE issued three separate tenders before finalizing a vendor, modifying eligibility conditions during the process. He alleged the selected company received the contract only 74 days before the nationwide rollout, leaving inadequate time for preparation and teacher training. Sidhant also stated the platform was poorly designed, allowing unauthorized access to...