Bihar shifts out controversial official KK Pathak from education department

KK Pathak, a 1990 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS), was posted as the additional chief secretary in charge of the education department in June last year.

PATNA: The Bihar government late on Thursday transferred out senior bureaucrat KK Pathak from the education department barely a year after he was assigned the responsibility following a string of controversial decisions including one to freeze bank accounts of state universities.

S Siddharth, principal secretary to the chief minister, will hold additional charge of the education department, replacing KK Pathak (in Phto) (X/Mr_KK_Pathak)

Pathak, a 1990 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS), was posted as the additional chief secretary in charge of the education department in June last year.

The bureaucrat is credited with steps to track the attendance of teachers and students in the state’s schools. But his critics say he doesn’t know where to draw the line and refused to change school timings despite chief minister Nitish Kumar’s assurance to the state assembly that the timings would be changed due to the severe heat wave.

The bureaucrat, who has been seen in videos using abusive language with his subordinates, has also taken on Bihar governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, the chancellor of state-run universities. During his stint, Pathak also ordered officials to stop the salary of vice-chancellors and registrars and freeze funding for the state universities.

According to an official notification, Pathak will replace 1992-batch officer Dipak Kumar Singh, who has been transferred to the rural works department. Pathak will continue to hold additional charge of the Director General of the Bihar Institute of Public Administration & Rural Development (BIPARD).

S Siddharth, principal secretary to the chief minister, will hold additional charge of the education department, it said.

Deepak Kumar Singh, ACS of the revenue and land reforms department, has been transferred to the rural works department.

Arvind Choudhary, who was the principal secretary of finance department, has been shifted to the home department. He will also have additional charge of principal secretary, vigilance department and Investigation commissioner of the general administration department.

Similarly, Lokesh Kumar Singh, secretary of the department of science and technology, has been given additional charge of the finance department.