Amid mounting concerns over flaws in the Central Board of Secondary Education's (CBSE) On-Screen Marking (OSM) system, Class 12 student Vedant Shrivastava, who claimed that the Physics answer sheet shared by the board was not his, has found relief after CBSE acknowledged the discrepancy and sent him the correct evaluated copy.
The controversy erupted at a time when several students were already raising concerns over the evaluation process, claiming they had either received answer sheets belonging to other candidates or secured unexpectedly low marks. Technical glitches during the window opened by CBSE for accessing evaluated answer sheets further added to students' anxiety.
Vedant Shrivastava's case drew widespread attention after he alleged on social media that the Physics answer sheet shared by CBSE did not belong to him, except for the first page. While many users supported his demand for clarification, others targeted him online, with some even questioning his nationality and accusing him of attempting to defame the board.
However, CBSE on Monday acknowledged the error and contacted the student, sharing the correct answer sheet and initiating corrective action.
On May 23, Vedant had posted on X that he was "shattered" after receiving what he claimed was another student's Physics answer sheet through the CBSE reevaluation process.
"I am a CBSE Class 12 student. After receiving unexpectedly low marks in Physics, we applied for photocopies of my answer sheets through the CBSE reevaluation process. Today we received the copies. And I am shattered because the Physics answer sheet uploaded by CBSE is not mine," he had written.
The post quickly went viral, with several users tagging CBSE and demanding a response over the alleged discrepancy in the evaluation system.
Responding to the issue on May 25, CBSE on X wrote, "Dear Vedant, Thank you for bringing your concern regarding your Physics answer book to our attention. Upon review, the matter has been examined, and the correct copy of your answer book has been sent to your registered email address. Necessary action for updating your result, as applicable, is also being undertaken accordingly. We appreciate your patience and assure you of our continued support."
The board's response came as a major relief for students who had raised concerns over the transparency and accuracy of the evaluation process.
Late on Monday night, Siddhant Shrivastava took a swipe at trolls who had targeted the family online. Sharing a photograph with his brother on social media, he wrote, "Rajma chawal after such a hectic day. A big thanks to all who supported us from Vedant and Siddhant and we are not Pakistani."
Speaking to ANI, Vedant's brother Siddhant Shrivastava said the marks initially awarded were based on another student's answer sheet.
"The problem was that his answer sheet was exchanged with someone else's, and the marks we received were based on someone else's answer sheet. We emailed the complaint to CBSE. We also made a video, gave an interview to a news channel, and tweeted it. When this matter received a lot of public attention, CBSE reached out to us and sent us the correct answer key," he said.
He added that more students started coming forward with similar complaints after Vedant's case surfaced publicly.
"We want a formal portal established for other students as well, where they can report such problems directly to CBSE and not face harassment and trolling as we did, to report their genuine issues," Siddhant said.