Nitish Kumar appeals to parents of examinees to stop cheating

Says the pictures of cheating in matriculation examination were not the story of the entire state

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today appealed to parents of examinees to stop cheating during public examinations, which, he said, was drawing bad name to the state.

"Students cannot go forward in life on the basis of such exam certificate but on the basis of their talents," Kumar said after holding review meeting during the day in which he ordered to stop cheating in the ongoing matriculation examination in the state and action against policemen and magistrates deployed on examination duty if found involved in abetting cheating.

He said the pictures of cheating in matriculation examination were not the story of the entire state.

"Students from Bihar are talented and have shown their mantle across the world ... Some photographs showing cheating cannot dominate on merit of the students," Kumar said in his Facebook post.

Visuals showing people scaling three to four storey exam centres to pass on chits to their wards and in some cases even policemen extending a helping hand to them in return of money have gone viral in social media besides appearing in national and local dailies.

Patna High Court converted a report of large-scale cheating in matriculation examination published in an English daily as PIL and directed state police chief to stop copying immediately.

Opposition BJP attacked the state government for failing to stop cheating in the matriculation examination.

"The fact is that the state government has gone into deep slumber as a result of which the entire system seems to be crumbling," Leader of Opposition in Bihar assembly Nand Kishore Yadav told reporters.