Chief minister Nitish Kumar with state human rights commission chairperson SN Jha in Patna on Tuesday. Picture by Ashok Sinha

Patna, Sept. 7: The third death anniversary of Madan Mohan Jha, the former human resource development department principal secretary, was observed on the premises of AN Sinha Institute of Social Science today.

The former HRD principal secretary was a man with a versatile personality. Known for his visionary goals and vast knowledge of the educational system, Jha helped the state to draw up a plan for universal secondary education involving private players in opening up schools for children.

Jha was very close to chief minister Nitish Kumar. Nitish had specially brought Jha over from central deputation to revamp the education sector in Bihar.

As the HRD boss, Jha initiated the move to recruit more than two lakh teachers on contractual basis and initiated many schemes in the education sector, particularly in higher education. The present HRD secretary, Anjani Kumar Singh, now carries his work forward. Jha’s colleagues and other employees of the department still recollect Jha’s style of functioning.

At today’s function, organised to remember and pay homage to Jha, Nitish, however, chose to keep silent. He paid floral tributes to Jha and had a talk with Jha’s widow, Nisha Jha after occupying his seat in the front row.

Neither the chief minister nor any other dignitaries, including retired Justice S.N. Jha, the chairman of Bihar State Human Rights Commission, occupied the seats on the podium. This was to pay homage to the beloved son of Bihar.

Jha’s daughter-in-law, Radhika welcomed the guests followed by a bhajan recital.

A senior journalist, preferring anonymity, said: “When we (reporters) used to send our official card to meet him, Jha would himself come out of his office and take us to his chamber.” Moreover, it was Jha’s special love and care for the teachers’ community that the teachers who went to the secretariat on work enjoyed special prestige. The journalist said that during Jha’s tenure none of the secretariat officials had the courage to demand bribe from the teachers to speed up their work.

In 2007, Jha, a 1977 batch IAS, passed away after a massive cardiac arrest at his Hardinge Road residence. The news of his sudden demise spread through the academic circuit of Bihar like wildfire.

Ashok Rao, the director of Swami Sivananda Institute of Fine Arts and Crafts, had come down from Delhi on the occasion.

Praising Jha’s academic reforms, Rao said: “SSMI has been working toward the empowerment of women in society. If Jha had been alive, his contribution to the education sector could have been utilised in the field of women empowerment too.” Rao said the issue of malnutrition in the country is very vital as 40 per cent children suffer from malnutrition. He said 30 per cent adults, including 36 per cent women, suffer from malnutrition. “The government should focus more on the issue of malnutrition as it has given on AIDS and polio eradication,” Rao said.