Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar inaugurated ‘Bapu Parkisha Parisar’ (Bapu Examination Complex) — claimed by the state government to be the largest examination centre in the country — in Patna on Wednesday.

He also launched the second phase of the reforms roadmap for the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) on the occasion.

Over 16,600 candidates can write their papers at the complex at a time. The facility also has arrangements to conduct online examinations with a seating capacity of 3,500.

“We were trying to have this facility for a long time now to ensure that a large number of candidates could appear together in an examination. We can conduct examinations at this complex every day. We are trying to have similar facilities at other places in the state as well. I had asked the officials to name this place after Bapu (Mahatma Gandhi),” Nitish told reporters.

Nitish laid down the foundation stone of the Bapu Pariksha Parisar of the BSEB in August 2020. Spread across five acres of land, it has been constructed at a cost
of Rs 202 crore.

The campus has two five-storeyed blocks at present. A third one is expected to be added in the coming months, which will increase the seating capacity to 20,000.

The state-of-the-art complex has 44 large examination halls and 12 residential quarters for the officials posted here. Accommodation arrangements have also been made for 28 men and 28 women security personnel on the campus. The entire facility, including the examination halls, will be monitored with the help of CCTV cameras and a centralised control room.

Apart from the secondary and higher secondary board examinations conducted by the BSEB, Bapu Pariksha Parisar will also be used to hold examinations conducted by the Bihar Public Service Commission, Bihar Staff Selection Commission, Bihar Technical Services Commission and other such bodies round the year.