Patna, Sept. 10 -- Bihar chief minister Samrat Choudhary on Wednesday felicitated 168 meritorious students who secured top ranks in the 2026 intermediate and matriculation examinations. The state awarded generous monetary prizes to celebrate academic excellence: first-rank holders received Rs.2 lakh, second-rank achievers received Rs.1.5 lakh, and third-rankers were awarded Rs.1 lakh. Fourth and fifth-place Intermediate rankers received Rs.30,000, while fourth through tenth-place Matriculation achievers secured Rs.20,000. Every felicitated student was additionally granted Rs.51,000 to purchase a laptop. Felicitated Intermediate students included Aditya Prakash Aman, Sakshi Kumari, and Sapna Kumari from Science; Nishu Kumari, Siddhi Shikha, Chandradeep Kumar, and Md. Lucky Ansari from Arts; Aditi Kumari and Mahi Kumari from Commerce; as well as Priyanshu Raj and Anika Upadhyay from the Vocational course. Additionally, Pushpanjali Kumari, Sabrina Parween, and Nahid Sultana were honoured for securing the top three positions in Matriculation Examination. Addressing the gathering, the CM highlighted that toppers were historically felicitated as late as November or December. Urging swift recognition, he observed that delaying award ceremonies diminished their true value, especially as students often left for other cities to pursue higher studies shortly after their results. Starting next year, the government has mandated that felicitation ceremonies take place within a single month of result declarations. Samrat evoked Bihar's glorious past as the cradle of Magadh, which fostered global intellectual pillars such as Nalanda and Vikramshila. He credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former chief minister Nitish Kumar with restoring Nalanda University's heritage and noted that the state government allotted 200 acres of land in July to revive Vikramshila University. Aligning with the vision of Viksit Bharat and Samriddh Bihar, the chief minister urged the state's youth to evolve into job creators rather than job seekers, pointing out that land has already been sanctioned for 1,000 industries. Deputy chief minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav observed that knowledge (gyan) and science (vigyan) naturally command universal honor (samman). He celebrated Bihar's historical milestones, citing the invention of zero and the drafting of Chanakya's Arthashastra, which halted Alexander the Great's advance. Education minister Mithilesh Tiwari reaffirmed that education remains the state's paramount priority, applauding the administration's aggressive policy initiatives. Highlighting institutional transformation, Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) chairman Anand Kishor / Thiyagarajan SM detailed how extensive procedural reforms positioned BSEB as the first board in the country to declare its 2026 results. The board currently delivers free evening coaching for competitive examinations like JEE and NEET across 10 model schools and online classes for 145 schools, with definitive plans to scale this infrastructure to 700 model schools. BSEB will also evaluate state schools via a five-point framework and integrate digital mark sheets into DigiLocker by 2027. Meanwhile, Choudhary on Tuesday acknowledged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is introspecting to "fix the system" following its unexpected defeat in the Bankipur assembly by-election. The chief minister said, "We are making the Bharatiya Janata Party more self-confident, and we know we made a mistake," Choudhary stated. "Someone is winning our seat, and this is a matter of concern for us. That's why all the party members are involved in this work. We must work out this. And it is alarming for us as well that the party will think about it and fix the system". The statement comes after Jan Suraaj Party chief Prashant Kishor won the long-held BJP stronghold by a margin of 19,324 votes against candidate Neeraj Kumar Sinha. The seat was previously vacated by BJP National President Nitin Nabin. Dismissing claims that the single bypoll result indicates a broader shift across the state, Choudhary argued that isolated elections do not determine the overall public mandate. "Understand one thing, one seat is not the mandate of the whole of Bihar; first of all, keep this in mind," he asserted. "There are bellwether seats in Bihar. I am telling you that in 2005, Nitish ji came, and in 2009, by-elections were held....