Politicians fail Bihar education

The 10+2 toppers scandal has ruined the careers of thousands of students in Bihar. The merit scam is the byproduct of greed and a capricious political intervention in education, which paved the way for touts to flourish inside Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) system, varsity offices and other academic institutes. 

Wielding huge political clout, top education department officials distributed affiliation certificates to institutes for anything between Rs 1.5 and 6 lakh. Former BSEB chief Lalkeshwar Prasad Singh had given affiliation to over 200 such institutes in his two-year tenure, which is being investigated now. Kingpin of the scam and principal of VR College Amit Kumar alias Bachcha Rai managed to get affiliation for its 12 colleges, mostly fake, investigating officers say.

Former BSEB chief’s wife and former JD-U legislator Usha Sinha was principal of Ganga Devi College in the state capital. “Sinha would demand Rs 15 lakh for producing a state topper, while his wife took Rs 10 lakh for passing the failed candidates,” the preliminary investigation revealed.

The expose

It was a chance media discovery. Rubi Rai, who was declared arts topper in Bihar intermediate examination on May 20, talked of ‘Prodigal Science’ when reporters reached her for an interview. She explained the subject as something to do with cookery. “I don’t know how I am declared the topper. V R College principal Amit Kumar (Bachcha Rai) is very close to my father. I wanted to pass the exams with at least a second division,” Rubi reportedly told the state’s Special Investigating Team.

The Board conducted a re-exam of 13 toppers on June 3. Rubi Rai skipped the exam on health grounds. In the re-test, the experts committee cancelled the top positions of state science topper Saurabh Shreshtha and third state science topper Rahul Kumar after they failed.

The controversy led Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to set up an SIT led by Patna senior superintendent of police Manu Maharaj. A criminal case was lodged against four intermediate toppers -- Saurabh Shreshtha, Rahul Kumar, Shalini Rai and Rubi Rai and three administrative officials in the state capital on June 6.

The SIT has arrested 21 persons so far. The accused are in jail and they include BSEB chief Lalkeshwar Prasad Singh, his wife and former JD-U legislator Usha Sinha, and kingpin and principal of VR College of Vaishali Amit Kumar alias Bachcha Rai. 

“Better results also help parents in finding grooms for their daughters,” says Hetukar Jha, a sociologist and a retired Patna University professor. 

The probe so far

All four toppers of Bihar intermediate examination are the students of VR College of Vaishali. The College courted controversy in 2005 when it produced 473 out of 477 first divisional candidates. After a probe, only three candidates were awarded first division in class X.

Patna City superintendent of police Chandan Kushwaha said: “The 2005 probe was not given as much of media limelight. In the present case, key accused Bachcha Rai managed to get his work done easily from any Board official. The racket involved affiliation of colleges, tendering, fudging government funds and marks. The government provides Rs 4,500 per student to its affiliated colleges if a student secures a first division.”