An 18-year-old from Bokaro, Sarthak Sidhant, has become an unlikely whistleblower in India’s education system. His detailed blog post on the CBSE On-Screen Marking re-evaluation process led to the transfer of the CBSE chairman and secretary. Sidhant, who describes himself as a dork and does not own a phone, grew up in a city where questioning authorities was uncommon.
Raised by two computer engineers who ran their own academy, Sidhant was using a computer mouse by age three. He spent his childhood in Bokaro, a PSU-owned city controlled by a steel plant, where broken roads remained unfixed and no one was held accountable. “You don’t get to question who is your mayor. You don’t get to question roads because they are never going to be fixed,” he said in an interview with Manisha Pande.
After his father’s death, his family moved to Ranchi, where he found a different civic environment. There were politicians to question and wards to investigate. Sidhant began building civic technology tools, including a website that automatically emails the responsible official when someone reports a pothole. This work led him to study government tenders, which eventually brought him to the CBSE scandal.
When thousands of students complained online about the botched On-Screen Marking re-evaluation, Sidhant read the tender document—something many journalists had not done. His analysis raised serious questions about how Coempt Eduteck was selected to carry out the process. He published a blog post with sources attached at the bottom.
Last week, Sidhant presented his findings before a parliamentary panel. Days later, the CBSE chairman and secretary were removed. In his conversation with Manisha Pande, Sidhant discussed his formative years, losing his father, his parents’ inter-caste marriage, and the internet freedom that made him fearless. He also spoke about going viral without a phone and being called antinational.
The interview is part of Newslaundry’s independent journalism, which relies on subscriber support. The publication noted that stories like these require perseverance, time, and resources. Sidhant’s work has drawn attention to transparency and accountability in India’s education system.
