Lalkeshwar Prasad Singh, Former chairman, Bihar School Education Board; Usha Sinha, Lalkeshwar Singh’s wife, former JD(U) MLA and Bachcha Rai, Principal, Vishun Roy College, Vaishali.
Bihar hit the headlines in 2016 when Class 12 science and arts examination toppers failed to answer simple questions. The following year, another scandal hit the education system of the state when police arrested Class 12 Arts topper for allegedly forging his date of birth.
Ruby Rai who had topped the Intermediate examination in Humanities in 2016 pronounced ‘Political Science’ as ‘Prodigal Science’. The 12th topper later blamed her father. “I had only told papa to get me passed but they went ahead and made me topper,” she said. The Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) put on hold the results of the toppers of Arts and Science streams of Class 12 examination and called the first seven rank holders of the two streams for test. Facing an expert committee of the BSEB that asked her to write a few lines on Tulsidas, the poet, she had written one line: “Tulsidas, pranam”.
“The arts topper was very forthright in accepting that she did not deserve to be a topper,” said Manu Maharaj, Patna special SP who headed the special investigation team (SIT) probing the scam. “She had expected second division at best. She now blamed her guardians and Vishun Roy College principal Bachcha Rai for making her topper,” he said.
In 2017, another topper, Ganesh Kumar, was arrested for allegedly forging his date of birth. Kumar turned out to be a 41-year-old, and not the 24-year-old he claimed to be. When asked about the basics of music — one of Ganesh Kumar’s chosen subject — he struggled to answer and confused singer Lata Mangeshkar with Samastipur folk singer Shrada Sinha. He could not define basic terms like “sur”, “taal” and “matra”. He sang a few lines of a Bollywood song out of rhythm when asked what he did in his practicals. Ganesh had secured 65 out of 70 marks in his music practicals.
Recently, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) also attached assets worth Rs 4.53 crore, including 29 plots and deposits in ten bank accounts, of the accused.
The agency, in a statement, said it has attached 16 plots in the name of Bachha Rai in Lalganj, Mahua, Bhagwanpur and Hajipur and 13 plots in the name of his wife Sangeeta Rai. Bank deposits in the name of his daughter Shalini Rai, a flat in Patna and a two-storey house in Hajipur of the Rai family have also been attached.
The police chargesheet mentioned that Bachha Rai used to receive huge cash as illegal gratification from students for manipulating their results with the help of officers and staff of the Bihar School Education Board (BSEB) including the then Chairman Lalkeshwar Singh.
The central investigation agency said its probe found that Bachha Rai “has laundered his illicit wealth by acquiring huge properties in his name and that of his wife and daughter, which could not be explained by them.” “Further, proceeds of crime have been laundered through a trust run by his (Bachha Rai) family member.
Reacting to the series of scams, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had said last year, “We have taken the episode (toppers scam for second consecutive year) as a challenge to conduct exams in the future more effectively. We focused on checking question paper leaks and bungling in evaluation process. But wrongdoers find ways somehow. We do not believe in casting a veil on the shortcomings. As soon as irregularity regarding the arts topper (Ganesh Kumar) surfaced, I directed officials not to waste time in ordering probe and to lodge an FIR and arrest the wrongdoers involved in the exam racket.”
“After pictures of people climbing a school building at Vaishali to supply chits in the matriculation exam came into light in 2015, we worked hard to stop cheating. Due to strict conduct of Class 12 exams by Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB), this year the pass percentage has dropped to about 35 per cent,” he said, adding that he has directed officials to come up with an “action plan”.
This year, however, there were no reports of mass cheating during the board examination. The Bihar board will release the results for Class 12 examinations today.