The year continues to be turbulent for Indian students. First came the NEET paper leak that affected 23 lakh medical aspirants. Now, the CBSE Class 12 board exams are under scrutiny after the overall pass percentage fell to 85.2 per cent, the lowest since 2019.
One of the main reasons behind the controversy has been the introduction of the on-screen marking (OSM) system, which aims to streamline assessment by digitizing answer scripts and allowing examiners to assess scanned copies electronically.
Nisarga Adhikary, a Grade 12 student and cybersecurity researcher who explored the OSM website after its launch, is blunt about what he found: “It’s really easy for a malicious actor to alter the markings.”
Adhikary says he discovered multiple vulnerabilities in the platform and informed both CBSE and CERT-In about the issues in February 2026 in an attempt to fix them. This year, nearly 9.8 million answer sheets were evaluated under the OSM system.
In this interview with newslaundryAdhikary talks about the vulnerabilities he claims to have found, his interactions with authorities, and what the controversy reveals about the rapid digitalization of India’s educational infrastructure.
Watch the full interview.
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