PATNA, Feb. 21 -- The Bihar government will introduce digital evaluation of answer sheets in college and university examinations to reduce delays in the declaration of results, education minister Sunil Kumar announced in the Bihar Legislative Council on Friday. The minister was replying to a call attention motion raised by RJD MLC Urmila Thakur, who urged the government to adopt the system already implemented by several educational boards and universities across the country. Thakur said scanning answer sheets and uploading them on a secure digital platform for examiners helps prevent physical damage to scripts, reduces human error and improves monitoring of the evaluation process. Responding to the demand, Kumar said the state was actively working on the plan. "We are working on the digital evaluation of answer sheets. We have sent a proposal to the governor in this regard and will adopt it as soon as we receive concurrence," he told the House. On fixing a timeline for declaration of university examination results, the minister said a final decision would also require the governor's approval. BJP MLC Nawal Kishore Yadav, however, criticised the delays in publishing university results, claiming that students often wait up to three months. He said digitisation efforts had added to the mess. Kumar acknowledged that physically transporting answer sheets takes considerable time and involves substantial expenditure. He said digital evaluation would be a more efficient solution and would help ensure timely publication of results. Citing the performance of the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB), Kumar said it had set a record in recent years by declaring class 10 and 12 results among the earliest in the country. Universities, however, face operational challenges as each institution oversees nearly 50 colleges, he added, but the department remains committed to implementing digital evaluation....