Patna, Sept. 9: Chief minister Nitish Kumar travelled all the way to Sarisabpahi village in Madhubani district today to unveil the statue of famous 14th century AD scholar, teacher and philosopher Ayachi Mishra and midwife Chamain, who acquired the fame for honesty and social work.

Unveiling the statues of a Brahmin and a Dalit side by side at Ayachi Dih (Ayachi's mound) area of the village, Nitish said: 'Just as our country cannot develop without the development of Bihar, our state cannot develop without the development of Mithilanchal region, which has vastly contributed to the field of learning and knowledge.'

He told a public gathering that the two personalities were sterling examples for their strong message of equality and harmony.

Nitish added that the mound could contain historical objects and asked the organisers of the event to give him additional information about the place after 15 days as his present focus was on the districts affected by the floods. He said 38 lakh families in the state, Madhubani included, had been affected by the floods, and the state government had so far transferred Rs 6,000 to each of the 13 lakh affected families.

He promised proper exploration and development of Ayachi Dih.

Ayachi Mishra's original name was Pandit Bhavnath Mishra. Though a renowned scholar and teacher seven centuries ago, he was poor. And yet, he never sought anything from anyone, acquiring the name Ayachi or 'a person who doesn't beg'.

He also imparted free education to people on the condition that they teach 10 others for free. This helped spread education among the masses.

When Ayachi got a son, he had nothing to give to midwife Chamain. So he promised to donate her his son's first salary. The son, Shankar Mishra, was extremely intelligent from childhood. The king of the region was impressed by his knowledge when he was just five and gifted him a diamond necklace.

Shankar took the necklace home, where his parents considered it his first salary, and donated it to the midwife, who in turn used it for the village's development and welfare. 'If the model of education adopted by Ayachi Mishra is used today, it will bring a huge change to society,' Nitish said.

Requesting teachers to leave their problems for the state government to handle and focus on teaching, Nitish said the gross enrolment ratio beyond Class XII was just 13.8 per cent in the state and he wanted to take it to over 30 per cent.

He also recounted the student credit card scheme and various scholarships initiated to help provide opportunities to students to study beyond Class XII.