Bihar names all members of committee for exam reforms
Bihar appoints all members of the expert committee for exam reforms
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Patna — A notification to this effect
was issued by the General
Administration Department (GAD) Tuesday evening. Earler, on September I, the government had notified appointment of Patna High Court Judge Justice Harish Kumar as chairman of the Expert Committee,
The four members of the
five-member committee are IIT, Patna acting director Prof Amit Patra, NIT Patna director
_ Pradip Kumar Jain, Bihar Engineering University vice-chancellor Suresh Kant Verma and
_ Additional Chief Secretary Arvind Kumar Choudhary,
The Bihar government had
"announced to set up an expert committee to improve various
competitive and recruitment
examinations following several instances of irregularities, cancellation and question leak, which led to protests.
According to the notification of the General Administration Department, Justice Harish Kumar of the Patna High Court has been made the chairman of the committee, Other members
'of the committee will be announced soon.
The committee will submit its recommendations for restoring the sanctity of examinations at various levels, including secondary, higher secondary, university, professional.
technical and recruita, = ]
BARON, OU LEER DEES BROCE EEE within three months of its formation.
The Bihar government had on August 23 last notified the formation of a five-member committee for examination reforms to look into the entire examination system and suggest measures Co prevent leak of question papers, cheating, impersonation, tampering of answer sheets, manipulation of results, management of exam centres and delays.
The committee will recommend comprehensive reforms for examinations conducted by state government boards, commissions, universities and recruitment agencies. The panel will also recommend a state-level examination calendar with fixed timelines for various types of competitive examinations right from the advertisement stage.
What is significant is the vast ambit of the commission, starting from school boards and universities, which have been in disarray and churning out degrees only without commensurate knowledge or skills and ultimately makes an impact on the quality of recruitment.
The move comes amid growing need to make examinations more transparent, efficient and reliable, particularly for students and job aspirants appearing for competitive and recruitment tests.
The committee is expected to examine existing procedures and bo: ang measures aimed at Strengthening the overall examination framework across Bihar and restore its credibility. —_—_———
DUAL MAS ULE WL Ie frequent protests by students over the last few years, with the BPSC, Bihar State University Service Commission, Bihar state SSC, Bihar State Technical Services Commission, SI and constable recruitment in Bihar police landing in controversy and thousands of cases lined up in court. The police recruitment results have been withheld till completion of inquiry.
The 70th BPSC preliminary examination held in Patna had also landed in controversy and had to be taken twice in December 2024 and January 2025. The protests are still on despite publication of results due to very few Hindi medium candidates qualifying.
The candidates had been demanding lack of transparency in the system and nonsupply of question papers and carbon less or digital OMR sheets, model answers and evaluated answer sheets.
There was also protest against absence of consolidated merit list in the recruitment of assistant professors. Hundreds of cases have been lined up in the High Court and appointments made even without verification of documents.
In the school and college teachers' recruitment, there was also violation of government roster for implementation of quota and the matters also landed in the court.
"The high-powered Commission will look into all the aspects and submit a compre hensive report with recommendations for revamp," said a senior education department official.
About the Author
Arun Kumar is a veteran journalist and Associate Editor with Hindustan Times, based in Patna. For more than three and a half decades, his reporting has chronicled Bihar's complex political landscape, university and educational reforms, landmark judicial rulings of the Patna High Court, administrative governance, and social shifts across the state. Known for deep investigative reporting and source-grounded accountability journalism, he is a recipient of the prestigious K.C. Kulish Journalism Award and the Keshav Bhatt Journalism Award, and is an LDM Fellow.