A 17-year-old student and blogger from Ranchi, Jharkhand, Sarthak Sidhant, had a remarkable day in Delhi. He deposed before a parliamentary committee, witnessed the government move against the CBSE's top brass, and received solidarity from the Leader of the Opposition.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi met Sarthak Sidhant and his family members, posting on X: 'Sarthak, stay firm on your principles.' Gandhi had earlier met Vedant Shrivastava, who was sent the wrong answer sheet by CBSE.
The government transferred CBSE chairman Rahul Singh and secretary Himanshu Gupta amid mounting scrutiny of the procurement for the board's On-Screen Marking (OSM) system. A one-member committee was set up to inquire into the OSM procurement.
Congress saw a clear sequence in the day's events, and a convergence with the youth, Gen Z in particular. Party comms head Jairam Ramesh said, 'Justice requires that the Mantri Pradhan be sacked,' referring to education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Sarthak Sidhant presented a seven-page set of findings to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, alleging the CBSE rewrote its tender rules to favour Coempt EduTeck, the firm running OSM.
Teenagers are driving the scrutiny of CBSE, amidst a wide environment of concern around exam systems. Other than Sarthak and Vedant, 19-year-old Nisarga Adhikary, an ethical hacker, flagged a vulnerability in the OSM portal.
The Cockroach Janta Party, an online movement, seeks Pradhan's resignation and plans a Jantar Mantar protest on June 6.
