In May, Akhil Gupta got the shock of his life when the CBSE Class 12 results showed that he had got only 13% in Physics though he had scored well in other subjects.

The 17-year-old, a student of Dayawati Modi Academy in Rampur in Uttar Pradesh, was expecting over 90% marks in Physics.

Nobody, including his school principal Ashok Thakur, believed that he could fare so badly in this subject when he had scored 97% in Mathematics.

The result ruined the bright student's chances of getting admission in a good college.

Not getting an immediate response from the CBSE, the shattered Akhil sent an e-mail to President A P J Abdul Kalam and followed it up with a messages to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and other leaders explaining his plight.

Unwilling to take any chances, he later sent another e-mail to the President.

A Rashtrapati Bhavan official said Kalam, who receives hundreds of e-mails every day, read Akhil's plea and asked his staff to follow it up with the relevant authorities.

Good news followed. A revaluation revealed that instead of 13 Akhil had actually got 85%.

A thankful Akhil, who has applied to Birla Institute of Technology and Science in Pilani, Rajasthan (BITS-Pilani), wants the President to take the initiative in revamping the entire revaluation system so that deserving candidates do not suffer because of such errors.

President of India