Bihar education minister meets Nitish, Lalu amid row with department officials

Patna: Bihar Education Minister Chandra Shekhar on Thursday called on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD president Lalu Prasad separately amid a row between the minister and his department over letters written by his personal secretary Krishna Nand Yadav.

Shekhar’s meeting with the two leaders came a day after the education department banned the entry of Yadav to its offices, who in a letter asked the departmental head to punish whistleblowers who allegedly leaked documents to the media.

“I met the CM and discussed issues related to my department,” the minister told reporters after meeting Kumar.

When asked whether Additional Chief Secretary (ACS-Education) K K Pathak was also present at the meeting, Shekhar said he had no information about his presence in the chief minister’s residence.

Earlier in the day, the minister met Prasad.

After meeting the RJD supremo, Shekhar tried to downplay the issue claiming there is no controversy in the department.

“I have come to know about the controversy involving my department only through the media. Let me first go through the recent developments, then only I will be able to comment about it,” he said.

Asked who is superior in the department – the minister or the ACS, Shekhar said, “It has been very clearly defined in the Constitution.” The education department on Wednesday banned the entry of Yadav to its offices, days after he wrote to the ACS stating that the minister was angry as "lots of negative news" related to the department are being reported in the media.

"Even official letters or departmental communications are being leaked to the media before they reach the Minister's Cell. This is against the rules about public servants' functioning. The department must identify such officials and take appropriate disciplinary actions.

“Lots of negative news in the press have angered the minister, and he now wants 'Robinhoods' and 'actors' among officers to be punished," Yadav had stated in the letter written on July 1.

Hitting back, Director (Administration) in the department, Subodh Kumar Chaudhary, wrote to Yadav on Wednesday, stating that his letter was "useless".

“You (Yadav) sent several letters to officials of the department in the last one week. You have already been told in the past that you are not entitled to communicate directly with government officials. By writing such useless letters you are wasting the time of government officials," Chaudhary said.