You may find God in Bihar but not a degree — This common refrain, often shared light-heartedly, has unfortunately become the reality for lakhs of students in the state whose future has been pushed into darkness due to false promises, incompetent administration and corruption.
There are over seven lakh students across Bihar’s universities who have been waiting for their degrees, results and even pending semesters. One of the largest educational institutions, Magadh University (MU), too has fallen prey to the lackadaisical attitude of the administration.
Established in 1962, Magadh University boasts of alumni such as popular actor Pankaj Tripathi, Union minister Giriraj Singh, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, and former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi among others.
The university, situated in Bodh Gaya, offers 704 courses across 13 undergraduate, postgraduate and other streams. It has 44 constituent colleges and 85 institutes affiliated to it and over two lakh students and more than 2,000 teachers.
#BreakingNews | Mega CNN-News18 impact on #Bihar's 'missing' degrees'Have asked education minister to look into the matter, will hold a meeting soon', Bihar CM #NitishKumar reacts
Join the broadcast with @toyasingh | @JournoKSSR pic.twitter.com/9GUQ8K0dFy
— News18 (@CNNnews18) January 25, 2023
The students of Magadh University, protesting against the delayed academic sessions and inability of the administration to hold examinations, tried to stop the convoy of Bihar Governor Phagu Chauhan in Patna on December 21 last year. An agitation demanding examinations, publication of results and issuance of certificates on time has been going on for the past two years.
MU’s vice-chancellor Rajendra Prasad has been absconding since November 2021 after the state vigilance unit (SVU) charged him with corruption. The Patna High Court had rejected his anticipatory bail plea in May.
Hundreds of students who have passed various undergraduate, postgraduate and professional courses from constituent colleges under MU are either unable to get admission to higher education or have to miss out on joining their jobs due to delay in the issuance of certificates by the university.
The university’s sad state of affairs was exposed by CNN-News18 after a thorough investigation showed how even after five years, MU students were unable to complete their graduation, pushing their lives in a limbo.
What Do Students Say?
Speaking to CNN-News18, Preety Nandini, an activist, said: “Since there is no permanent V-C, no administration work is in progress. We have been protesting in front of the Governor, education minister as well as chief minister’s Janta Darbar. The education minister’s remarks ensure that all the focus is on politics and no one debates on welfare of students.
Another student, Rohit Kumar, echoed the sentiment. “I am in the 2020-23 session but even my registration is not complete. Our education minister gives us false promises. Every month he says that he is going to release the results.”
Some students also attacked deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav over his employment promise in the state. “My session should have ended in 2020 but it has been four years and my degree is still not complete. I have missed BPSC exams three times in a row. Tejashwi Yadav says he will give jobs to 10 lakh people but we are not demanding any job… We just want that our degree is given to us so that we can apply for other exams and jobs. There is pressure from our family. We have become victims of depression. Such is the situation that we have no option than to die by suicide,” said Supriya Soni.
Sonu Kumar, another student, said the education minister had time to give controversial statements but not address the issues of the students. Kumar was referring to minister Chandrashekhar’s controversial statement on the Ramcharitmanas that has triggered a row in the state.
“I should have completed graduation but my second year result is still pending. How will I appear for the third year? We come from very poor families. There is no permanent V-C. I have missed BPSC exam thrice as well as UPSC exams. The education minister has all the time to give controversial statements for not for us.”
Puspa Kumari, meanwhile, trained her guns on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. “I am in the 2017-20 session. My graduation is still not complete. Where is Nitish’s ‘Beti Padhao Beti Padhao’? We are on the streets. I am unable to give any competitive exams,” the student said.
Additional Vice-Chancellor Speaks
CNN-News18 then reached out to newly appointed additional vice-chancellor Professor KC Sinha who assured that the pending results would be released this week and the other issues would be resolved within 6-8 months.
Asked about the complaints of students regarding delay in publishing results and conducting exams, Sinha cited two reasons for the lag.
“First is Covid-19. Because of coronavirus, almost all the universities — except four — are running behind by one year. The other reason is my predecessors did not take much strain. Also, in the raid by the state vigilance unit in November 2021, the officers were not ready to take responsibility. But now, the Governor and the state government are taking cognizance of the problem and everything will be fine within six months,” Sinha said.
CNN-News18 also confronted the additional vice-chancellor about students struggling to complete their graduation and how it was impacting their ability to sit for competitive exams or apply for higher studies. When asked who would take responsibility for the students, Sinha said: “We all are responsible for that. In the session 2018-21, the second-year exam was completed in 2020 and for session 2019-22, first-year exams were conducted in 2020 as well but results are still awaited. I, through your channel, assure you that the results will be published within a week.”
Sinha, however, refused to comment when he was asked about being the third additional V-C to be appointed within a year after November 2021.
“I would not comment on that. But I can say that I have a wide range of experience. I have been in this profession for the last 45 years. I was dean of the Faculty of Science. I was principal of a reputed Patna Science College, then I became vice-chancellor of Nalanda Open University and also got additional charge of vice-chancellor of Veer Kunwar Singh University. I got the exams conducted and results published on time. I don’t know how long I will be here but as long as I am here, everything will be okay, I assure you.”
Sinha added that he was with the students who were protesting against the delays and they must be patient. “I would like to say that my session was also delayed for two years because of the JP Andolan when I was in college. Students should not be discouraged and must have patience. Without caring for the loss, they must try for the betterment of their future. As long as I am there, everything will be okay.”
CNN-News18 also met some students who had secured jobs after completing their course but were worried that they may be kicked out since they did not have the degree and their document verification was incomplete.
Shyam Jha, who got a job in the Air Force said: “I have been stumbling from door-to-door for my degree for the past one year. I am afraid that my document verification will not be done on time and I will lose my job.”
Priyanka, a teacher in a private school, and Kundan, who has cleared his railways exams, too expressed their apprehensions to this reporter.
The exam controller’s stand
Anand K Singh, exam controller of Magadh University, said: “I don’t know about others but I have been brought here to bring everything in order and I will make sure that happens. The results will be out soon and exams will be conducted on time. Degrees will be processed as soon as possible. I was brought here because I am capable of doing it.”
Technical hitch?
CNN-News18, while trying to get to the bottom of the delay, came across several allegations against the software firm responsible for publishing the results — including that the officials were absconding.
Approached by CNN-News18, Sandeep Goel, MD, DataSoft Computers Pvt Ltd, said: “DataSoft Computers Private Limited had a contract with Magadh University from 2015 to 2020 for publishing the results. The university asked me not to go ahead further. They floated another tender with some other company but due to allegations against the V-C, they withdrew the tender.
“After that, the university again approached us for the pending work. We were ready to publish the results but we never got the marks from the university. We worked for one month and then they locked our rooms. We handed over the data to the controller but the exam controller keeps changing so he didn’t know where to keep it. If they ask us to publish the results, we will do it but we haven’t been asked. There are two groups within the system — one that favours the results being published and another that doesn’t.”
What does the Opposition say?
The BJP has slammed the state government over the crisis which has now assumed a political flavour. Sanjay Jaiswal, BJP state president, said: “I raised this issue in April last year when we were in a coalition and at that time, JD(U) was against me on this issue. Bihar doesn’t have 4,000 required professors because you don’t want to employ them. It is the failure of the state government but Nitish Kumar doesn’t take responsibility. Every V-C is appointed on the recommendation of the chief minister. The incharge V-C said he neither had professors nor money. All students are suffering because the state government is not doing what it should do. It’s a Bihar-specific issue, which is peculiar to India.”
Cornering CM Nitish Kumar
Asked about the plight of students, the chief minister said: “Now we are on ‘Samadhan Yatra’. I have asked the education minister to look into this. The previous education minister was also trying to solve the problem. I have told everyone to run the university properly. It is not acceptable if something wrong is happening. Everything will be alright.”
On the time frame, Kumar said: “After my yatra, I will keep a special meeting particularly for this. The Governor is also looking into the matter. There should not be any delay.”
Assuring the students of a speedy resolution, the chief minister said: “We are trying to give as much employment as we can. We want students to study properly and if they face any problems, we too are concerned. We want this problem to end as soon as possible. Hence, as soon as the yatra is complete, I will keep a special meeting regarding this.
Education Minister’s Clarification
Education Minister Chandrashekhar blamed the Governor for the discrepancies. “The state has given the funds and done its duty. Rest all administration is managed by Raj Bhavan. We have given the report. The state is not responsible for administrative work.”
Relief for Students After Mega Expose
The day the story was aired on TV, the exam controller declared results of Part 2 exams of 2018-21. He also said that within a couple of days, he would declare other pending results.
Read all the Latest India News here