KK Pathak: A reformer for some, a troublemaker for others, meet Bihar Education Dept official

Recently, when Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar distributed appointment letters to 1.20 lakh teachers, one person who got the loudest cheers was Education Department Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) K K Pathak. So much so that the CM too could not but acknowledge that “Hum log dekh rahe hain Pathakji kitne popular hain (We are all seeing how popular Pathakji is)”.

Just a month earlier, in the last week of November, about 15 MLCs had met Nitish demanding Pathak’s immediate removal for stopping the pension of retired professor and CPI MLC Sanjay Kumar Singh, reportedly because of Singh’s opposition to instructions regarding university teachers, in his capacity as general secretary of the Federation of University Teachers of Bihar.

That, in a nutshell, is Pathak, who has left the Education Department astir despite just six months as its ACS. Hence, few know what to make of an Education Department letter doing the rounds that Pathak has “voluntarily” relinquished his position with effect from January 9.

A senior government official, for one, told The Indian Express that Pathak has only given charge to another official “till January 14, his leave period”.

Characteristically, the letter followed a fracas involving Pathak and the Raj Bhavan, and an audio of his that went viral.

“The Governor’s office recently objected to frequent interference by Pathak in the functioning of higher education, which amounted to undermining the authority of the Governor as Chancellor of universities,” a source said.

The audio tape that went viral purportedly features Pathak hurling abuses at former Indian Medical Association president Dr Ajay Kumar, who had criticised the ACS earlier. Kumar has lodged a police complaint against Pathak over the tape.

Nit