Patna: Bihar’s newly inaugurated government under Chief Minister Nitish Kumar showcases a notable variety in educational backgrounds, featuring ministers with qualifications ranging from engineering degrees and PhDs to those with only a Class 12 education. Nitish, who was sworn in for another term at Patna’s historic Gandhi Maidan on Thursday, was accompanied by his council of ministers during a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. Among the engineers in significant positions, Nitish Kumar himself is a graduate of the former Bihar College of Engineering (now NIT Patna), holding an engineering degree.
Deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha has a diploma in civil engineering from Begusarai Polytechnic, while Deepak Prakash earned a BTech in computer science from Manipal University. Notably, only one minister, Narayan Prasad, has completed education up to the matric level. The new cabinet features four ministers with PhDs, highlighting a robust presence of higher education. These include Dilip Kumar Jaiswal, PhD from BNM University, Madhepura, Ashok Choudhary, Santosh Kumar Suman, and Dr. Pramod Kumar. Additionally, Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary also possesses an honorary doctorate. A significant number of ministers have postgraduate degrees, including Vijay Kumar Choudhary, Sunil Kumar, Arun Shankar Prasad, and Shreyasi Singh.
Furthermore, seven ministers hold graduate degrees, among them Mangal Pandey, Madan Sahni, Ramkripal Yadav, Sanjay Singh Tiger, Lakhendra Kumar Roshan, and Sanjay Kumar. A noteworthy portion of the cabinet consists of ministers who have studied up to Class 12, including Bijendra Prasad Yadav, Shravan Kumar, Leshi Singh, Nitin Nawin, Jama Khan, Surendra Mehta, and Rama Nishad. Notably, Rama Nishad is serving as both a first-time MLA and a first-time minister, while the other six have held ministerial positions previously.
