At 19, most students are deciding which college to join after school. Nisarga Adhikary says he has already worked with startups, contributed to open-source projects and handled cybersecurity research - experiences that, according to him, justify calling himself a “software engineer” even before entering college.
Adhikary recently found himself at the centre of a national controversy after claiming to have uncovered major vulnerabilities in the Central Board of Secondary Education’s (CBSE) On-Screen Marking (OSM) portal. But beyond the hacking claims, the teenager’s age and credentials also sparked widespread curiosity online. CBSE, however, denied that its actual evaluation system was compromised, saying the vulnerabilities highlighted by the teenager related only to a “testing site” with sample data.
Started programming as a teen
During an interview with Hindustan Times, Adhikary was asked how he describes himself as a software engineer despite being only 19 and having just completed Class 12.
“They can be true at the same time. Like, I have been doing programming since an early age,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“They can be true at the same time. Like, I have been doing programming since an early age,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Nisarga Adhikary said he had worked with several startups and contributed to open-source software projects before completing school.
He added that he had worked as a “founding engineer” and with venture capital-backed startups.
“And also worked as a founding engineer at one point. Also worked at some VC-funded large startups,” he said.
Cleared Class 12 this year
The teenager said he appeared for his Class 12 board examinations this year itself and received his results earlier this month.
“This year only,” he said when asked when he completed Class 12.
The irony of a student who had just cleared Class 12 alleging flaws in the very system used to evaluate answer sheets quickly became a major talking point online.
Also read: CBSE 'ignored' calls for regional trials before OSM rollout for Class 12 board exam evaluation
How he got interested in cybersecurity
Adhikary said his interest in the CBSE OSM system began after he noticed widespread criticism surrounding the newly introduced digital evaluation platform.
“So in February when exams are going on, CBSE just said that they will do OSM this year. And this has been criticized all over media. People are furious,” he said.
He said curiosity about how the platform handled data and marks pushed him to examine the test site more closely.
“I thought of, like, it sparked my curiosity. How are they, like, protecting the data? How is the data being processed? How are the marks being given?” he said.
According to Adhikary, he located the portal through publicly available CBSE circulars and then began reading the frontend code delivered to browsers.
“I started reading the code which was being fetched to the browser when you open the portal,” he said.
‘You don’t need a degree to be an engineer’
When questioned about calling himself a software engineer without holding a formal engineering degree, Adhikary argued that technical ability matters more than academic credentials.
“I don't think engineering, like you don't need a degree to be an engineer,” he said.
Drawing comparisons with tech entrepreneurs, he added: “A lot of founders drop out. Like Mark Zuckerberg… He engineered world's largest social network website and he doesn't have formal college degree.”
“I don't call myself a graduate either. I call myself a software engineer,” he added.
CBSE OSM controversy
Nisarga Adhikary's comments come amid growing scrutiny over CBSE’s OSM system, introduced this year for Class 12 Board examinations. The platform has faced criticism after students reported blurry scans, missing pages and alleged mismatches in uploaded answer sheets during re-evaluation.
The controversy escalated after Adhikary claimed he found vulnerabilities in the portal, including what he described as a “master password” that could allegedly bypass authentication and access examiner accounts.
CBSE has denied that the actual evaluation portal was compromised, saying the vulnerabilities related only to a testing website with sample data.