Patna: Bihar is witnessing yet another fake degree controversy with the ruling Janata Dal (United) alleging that a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator has a fake degree, going by his 2020 affidavit to the Election Commission.
At a press conference Monday, the JD(U) alleged that MLA Haribhushan Thakur Bachaul’s graduation degree is from a women’s college. Bachaul has claimed it is a typographical error.
JD(U) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar told reporters that Bachaul’s affidavit mentions that he graduated in 1993 from Ram Sewak Singh College in Sitamarhi district. “That college is actually a women’s college. So how could Bachaul have passed from that college?” Kumar said, demanding a probe by the Election Commission.
Speaking to ThePrint over the phone Tuesday, Kumar said, “These things can only happen in the BJP where even the PM’s degree is being questioned,” he said, referring to the questions the Opposition has been raising over PM Narendra Modi’s educational qualifications.
Meanwhile, Bachaul claimed that the affidavit he submitted in the 2020 assembly polls had a “typing mistake”.
“Actually, there are two colleges in Sitamarhi. One is Ram Sakal Singh College, which is for boys, and the other is Ram Sewak Singh College, which is a women’s college. I graduated from Ram Sakal College in 1993, but Ram Sewak Singh College was typed by mistake,” he said to ThePrint over the phone.
“I am ready for any investigation. The JD(U) has targeted me because I have been a vocal critic of Nitish Kumar even when the party was allied with the BJP,” he added.
Speaking about the malaise of fake degrees in Bihar, former Patna University professor N.K. Choudhary told ThePrint over the phone that the education system was collapsing in the state, as was evident from the large number of fake degrees.
“Universities and educational institutions have been handed over to persons with dubious track records and, often, dubious degrees. That is why vigilance cases have been filed against VCs (vice-chancellors) and the chairman of University Service Commission has been jailed [Choudhary referring to a two-decade-old matter here].
“I raised the issue of rot in Bihar universities in 2007 and got suspended,” he claimed.
Former chief secretary and vice-chancellor of Nalanda Open University V.S. Dubey said he had taken steps to curb fake degrees during his tenure as the V-C. “I got photographs of candidates put on the degree and added unique features to it. I also used handmade paper, which is available only on order. I think all the other universities should follow suit,” he said, adding that such scandals affect the reputation of institutions.
Also read: Former JD(U) heavyweight RCP Singh joins BJP, says Nitish Kumar will be ‘PM’ forever
Not the first time
This is not the first time that an educational institution in the state has got dragged into a controversy over an alleged fake degree. Former law minister in Delhi’s AAP government Jitender Singh Tomar was charged with allegedly obtaining a fake law degree from Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University in Bihar.
Tomar, an MLA from Trinagar in North Delhi, was arrested on 9 June 2015 following a probe by Delhi Police on a complaint of the Bar Council of Delhi that he had obtained a fake law degree. In an RTI reply, the university said the marksheet was fabricated and the degree was not on official records. Tomar was arrested but let off on bail.
Former chief minister Jagannath Mishra, fondly called “doctor saheb” by his followers, was also accused of having a fake doctorate from Bihar University, Muzaffarpur. In the early 1980s, then MLA of the Socialist Party, Munshi Lal Rai, alleged that Mishra’s PhD thesis was ghost-written. He also read out passages from Mishra’s thesis, which were identical to some in the thesis of his guide, Dr Hargovind Singh. It created a huge row in the Bihar assembly but no further action was taken. On his part, Mishra was quoted by the media as saying that he was ready to face any inquiry.
In 2015, as a result of a petition in the Patna High Court, the state government conducted an internal probe into the teachers appointed in its schools. The government told the court that the degrees of 3,000 teachers were found to be fake and that they had resigned, according to media reports.
The high court is currently hearing another case related to fake degrees of teachers and it has expressed displeasure at the slow progress. The state cabinet has now taken a decision to make appointments of school teachers through the Bihar Public Service Commission, where candidates’ degrees will be examined before giving them appointment letters.
In Bihar, a topper scam was unearthed in 2016. When the media interviewed that year’s Class 12 toppers of the humanities and science streams, they failed to answer questions related to their subjects, raising doubts about the Bihar state board exams. At that time, former JD(U) MLA Usha Sinha’s husband L.P. Singh was the chairman of the Bihar School Examination Board.
Investigations revealed that students were doled out good marks for a price. Later, it was reported that Sinha’s own degree could be fake. Ultimately, the couple went to jail and Sinha was expelled from the party. She was later released on bail.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
Also read: A remote Bihar village, double-murder, a runaway Panchayat. And a mega constitutional crisis
Source: The Print
