Bihar Minister rejects controversy on topper's attendance

Bihar's Education Minister, Krishnanand Verma on Thursday rejected the controversy emerging over the attendance of National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) 2018 and Bihar Board topper, Kalpana Kumari.

"She (Kumari) has merit and proved it by being a NEET topper. She must be appreciated and there shouldn't be unnecessary controversy. All procedures were followed for her to take the exam," he told ANI.

Questions are being raised on the Bihar State Education Board (BSEB) and her after the board declared the results of Class 12 examination 2018.

As per media reports, Kalpana, who is a science stream student, was taking regular coaching from the Aakash Institute in Delhi and was a regular student there. This raosed questions about how she met the required 75 percent attendance criteria as a student of the Navodaya Vidyalaya in Tariyani in Bihar's Sheohar District.

The Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) however, asserted that there is no provision for minimum attendance in schools for students of the board.