Sarthak Siddhant, a 17-year-old student, has been in the news since he posted a blog titled ‘How CBSE rewrote the rules for Coempt EduTeck’.
As the controversy surrounding the Central Board of Secondary Education’s On-Screen Marking System (OSM) tender process mounts online, 17-year-old student Sarthak Siddhant appeared before a parliamentary committee on Tuesday and gave a detailed account of the procurement process and the alleged irregularities he claimed to have identified in official documents.
Since emerging as one of the top voices pointing out the potentially glaring issues surrounding CBSE’s OSM system, Sarthak has also emerged as an unexpected social media favorite for his sharp and often brutal responses to trolls on X.
Who is Sarthak Siddhant?
Sarthak Siddhant, 17, posted his findings on his website, sarthaksidhant.com/coempt, after spending several days, he said, reviewing tender documents on the central public procurement portal. This came after the low pass percentage in CBSE led to questions being asked about the OSM system, and some students reported errors, mismatches and mix-ups.
Sidhant’s blog, titled “How CBSE rewrote the rules in favor of Coempt EduTeck”, alleged that the board systematically tweaked the eligibility and technical requirements across three successive bidding rounds in a way that benefited the eventual winning vendor, Hyderabad-based Coempt EduTeck Private Limited.
“It is a story of how a massive public institution deliberately manipulated students’ futures by rewriting its own rule book,” Siddhant wrote in his blog op-ed.
The company denied any wrongdoing, as did CBSE.
Sarthak was on Tuesday asked to appear before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports. According to people familiar with his bid which was mentioned in an earlier HT report, Siddhant told the committee that CBSE had floated three separate tenders for the OSM system. The first, released in February 2025, was ultimately canceled without a successful bidder. The second, issued in May 2025, received four bids but was not awarded. The third contract, tendered in August 2025, attracted bids from Rankguru, TCS and Coempt, with the contract ultimately going to Coempt after Rankguru failed to qualify for the technical stage.
Sidhant’s X replies, a shout out to the journalist
Over the past few days, Siddhant’s posts and one-line replies have gone viral, especially as news channels and portals started vying for ‘exclusive’ reports related to the issue which was originally pointed out by CBSE students and later followed up with detailed reports by a very few.
In one widely shared response, Siddhant came out in support of Hindustan Times reporter Sanjay Maurya after a user accused the media of “stealing credit” from students who first raised concerns.
“Sanjay does actual exclusives. He does actual investigative journalism,” Siddhant wrote in response to a post that accused a Hizb ut-Tahrir journalist of not giving credit to “actual guys who do investigative journalism.”
Responding to another post by a news portal alleging that its coverage had a major impact after CBSE officials were transferred and an investigation committee was set up, Siddhant quipped: “Very nice investigation, wonder who did it.”
His responses ranged from sarcastic to self-aware. When a user posted an old photo of himself while being asked if reports were true that he had demanded the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan before the Parliamentary Standing Committee, Siddhant replied: “Can you stop using this photo, there are much better photos out there.”
When another user asked him how he “feels after all the recent controversies,” he responded with a screen recording of New York politician Zahran Mamdani with the comment: “This is how I feel.”
He also clashed with critics who accused him of spreading “misleading propaganda for CBSE by Rahul Gandhi’s puppet”. When one such user challenged him to join the X Spaces discussion, Siddhant responded in Hindi: “Media will not let you know what you want [I don’t speak to media, why would I speak to you]“.
In another jab at the same user, he later wrote: “He plays romantic music all the time, and I think he loves me.”
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday evening met Sarthak Siddhant, the second such teenager – out of the three – whom Gandhi has publicly supported in three days. “Sarthak, apne sidhanton b adigh rahoRahul said in Hindi on [‘sidhant’]On May 31, Gandhi met another student, Vedant Shrivastava.
CBSE has found itself in disarray with students’ profuse complaints over mismatches in their Class 12 answer sheets, which the board produces through the new On-Screen Marking (OSM) system – an assessment method that has drawn criticism as well as questions for being flawed.
CBSE has been going around offering clarifications and debunking opposition allegations after discrepancies were reported on May 23 by a Delhi student, Vedant Shrivastava, over the mismatch of his physics paper, giving impetus to the already floating complaints surrounding the OSM evaluation system.
Siddhant, Vedant and a third teenager – 19-year-old Nisarja Adhikari, the “ethical hacker” who pointed out alleged vulnerabilities in the OSM portal – have emerged as prominent faces of a wider student backlash over the controversy over this year’s exams, including the now-canceled NEET-UG 2026 exam, which is scheduled to be retaken on June 21 after a paper leak.
Nayanika is a Senior Content Producer at Hindustan Times, based in New Delhi, with over six years of experience in the digital media industry. It specializes in providing clear, in-depth coverage across public, national and international events, with a strong focus on breaking news and in-depth explainers. Known for her ability to decipher complex developments, she enjoys deconstructing multi-layered political and policy issues into accessible, reader-friendly narratives that deliver information without distraction. She previously worked in India’s leading newsrooms, including India Today, News18 and Outlook, where she has been tracking news, covering major events for the last six years and leading teams. Nayanika holds a Master’s degree in Political Science and has a keen interest in international relations and world affairs. Her academic foundations shape her analytical approach to stories, enabling her to connect the dots between local events and broader geopolitical currents. She is particularly drawn to stories that require context, nuance, and clarity—turning complex topics into compelling reads. Outside the newsroom, Nayanika is a passionate gourmet who loves to cook and share meals with her loved ones. When she’s not writing or keeping up with the latest headlines, you can often find her exploring local markets for the freshest ingredients, looking for inspiration for her next culinary experiment.Read more
