"Hopeful CBSE will answer my questions": Class 12 Student Sarthak Siddhant flags OSM tender discrepancies
New Delhi, May 30
A class 12 student, Sarthak Siddhant, raised serious concerns over the Central Board of Secondary Education's OSM tendering process, highlighting discrepancies that point towards preferential treatment of a particular service provider.
Sarthak Sidhant shared his findings in a detailed blog comparing multiple CBSE tender documents.
Speaking to ANI, Sarthak said, "There were many discrepancies. I have just compared both of them, and I found some discrepancies. Like, there were at least 15 discrepancies as per my blog. I would like to highlight three or four of them."
Sidhant specifically pointed out the On Screen Marking OSM tendering process. CBSE had issued three separate tenders, with the first removed from the Gem portal, the second failing all bidders in technical evaluation, and the third eventually awarded to an EduTech firm.
"The first discrepancy is that in the old tender, there were three clauses of poor performance, that the service... like the service provider, which happens to be Coempt, would be disqualified if they have poor performance. But in the new RFP, it was totally wiped out," Sidhant said.
He further highlighted changes in clauses related to blacklisting, financial qualification limits, CMMI levels, and project criteria that allegedly favoured the Edu Tech provider over industry giant TCS.
Asked why he pursued this research, Sidhant said, "I was working with Nisarg Adhikari, who is the ethical hacker. I was working with him, and he told me about Coempt, so that made my interest go into Coempt, and then I worked with the other journalists. So it was a collective effort, and I found some information on my own, and then I published it all in my blog."
On whether his work could lead to reforms, Sidhant expressed cautious optimism. "I am hopeful that CBSE will answer my questions. I have raised important questions through my blog. I hope CBSE will ensure transparency over the tender system. I hope the government of India also ensures that the tender system, the procurement websites, all are transparent, the data should be easily downloadable, and the more journalists, the more media houses should report on this," he said.
Sidhant also commented on the ongoing Online Scanning and Marking (OSM) system, which has faced criticism from students and educators. " I think OSM is a good change, I do not dislike it. But I think there should be wide rollouts first, and there should be good demo pilots. As many other reports pointed out, there were no good pilots, and it was not extensively tested. I think it should be implemented properly. Anything, any system you implement should be implemented properly," he added.
The student welcomed the recent government announcement that answer sheets would be provided along with marks from next year, Sarthak said, "This shall improve transparency. This... this is a welcome change," he said.
Sidhant also shared his personal experience as a candidate this year. "I did face some of it. I would say I was on the luckier side; not all of my pages were blurred, and it was okay. But I did feel like there were checking issues, there were marking issues which I will be sorting out after in the re-evaluation process."
— ANI
Reader Comments
Impressive investigation skills, but I wonder how many students have the time or resources to dig into government tenders like this. Most of us are just trying to pass our exams, not audit the CBSE's procurement process. Still, good for him. 👏
ये तो बहुत serious matter hai! If CBSE can't even follow proper tendering process, how can we trust them with our children's future? And the clause removal for poor performance is a huge red flag. Hope the Education Ministry takes strict action. 🇮🇳
I admire the transparency initiative. In the US, we often hear about procurement issues too, but rarely do students get involved. Sarthak's work with ethical hackers shows how collaborative investigation can expose corruption. That's real civic education.
I appreciate his balanced view on OSM. Many students hate it, but he's right - the problem isn't the system itself, it's the poor implementation. No proper pilot testing is a huge oversight. And thank God they're finally giving answer sheets from next year! 📄
Mera beta bhi is saal CBSE ka exam diya tha. Blurred pages, checking issues - same problems. Agar ek student itna transparent ho sakta hai, toh CBSE kyun nahi? Sarthak ko support karo! We need more such whistleblowers in our education system.
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