IAS Officer Who Scripted Nitish Kumar Success Stories Gets Top Bihar Job

The year is 2006. Bihar cadre IAS officer Pratyaya Amrit, then in his late 30s, is on central deputation in Delhi. The 1991-batch IAS officer has earlier served in Jharkhand's Dumka and Simdega, then in Bihar, and moved to the national capital for a five-year central posting.

Six months before his deputation is to end, Mr Amrit gets a phone call. On the other side is a top Bihar bureaucrat. "Would you mind returning to your home state? There's plenty to be done here," the caller says. Soon after, Mr Amrit packs his bags and leaves for home.

The 2005 Assembly election was a watershed moment for Bihar. Nitish Kumar became the Chief Minister and worked towards fulfilling his promise of transforming Bihar, reeling under the corruption and neglect of the Lalu Yadav era. The new Chief Minister started identifying bright IAS officers of the Bihar cadre on central deputation. They were called up and asked to come and serve their state. Mr Amrit found his calling in that call.

What followed was the jugalbandi of an energetic Chief Minister, fully in his 'Susashan Babu' avatar, and a sharp bureaucrat who gets work done. From roads to bridges to power to the fight against Covid, Mr Kumar has repeatedly relied on Mr Amrit and given him key responsibilities and he has delivered. And now, as the JDU chief is at a crossroads, with his rivals claiming that he is past his prime, he has yet again turned to his trusted officer. And Pratyay Amrit has been chosen as Bihar's next Chief Secretary months ahead of the polls.

Now serving as Development Commissioner for Bihar Vikas Mission, Mr Amrit will take charge as the state's top bureaucrat on September 1. He will succeed current chief secretary Amrit Lal Meena, who retires this month.

The Beginning

Mr Amrit shares his native Gopalganj district with RJD founder Lalu Prasad Yadav. He comes from a family of teachers. His father, Ripusudan Srivastava, served as a college lecturer and former vice-chancellor of Bhupendra Narayan Mandal University and his mother, Kavita Verma, was also a lecturer. Mr Amrit's sister, Pragya Richa, is an IPS officer.

An alumnus of the prestigious St Stephen's College, Delhi, Mr Amrit completed his post-graduation in ancient history and topped Delhi University. He cleared the UPSC civil services entrance exam in his second attempt.

An Illustrious Career

During his IAS probation in Dumka (then in Bihar), Mr Amrit is said to have learnt Santhali, the local language, to build better connections with the people. As the subdivisional magistrate of Simdega, he busted gambling rackets. While on central deputation, he was called back to Bihar to take charge of the Bihar Rajya Pul Nirman Nigam Private Limited. The government organisation was on the verge of being liquidated. One man believed a turnaround is possible -- Nitish Kumar and he bet on Mr Amrit to get this done. A bureaucrat who thrives in tight deadlines, Mr Amrit oversaw the construction of 1,123 bridges across the state within seven years.

In 2011, Mr Amrit received the Prime Minister's Excellence Award in Public Administration. The certificate read: "Bridging the gap: For turning around a dying Bihar State Bridge Construction Corporation into a profit-making unit."

His next task was rural electrification. As Chairman and Managing Director of Bihar State Power Holding Company Limited, Mr Amrit oversaw the electrification of nearly 40,000 villages.

A Different Juncture

Mr Amrit's new posting comes at a time when Nitish Kumar's development story is waning. The 74-year-old Chief Minister, now slowed down by age, faces a crucial election in a few months. Over the past few years, the BJP has expanded in Bihar and Mr Kumar's JDU has lost ground. On the opposite side is the Rashtriya Janata Dal, led by Lalu Yadav's younger son Tejashwi Yadav, and the Congress.

Nitish Kumar's favourite bureaucrat is about to take over as Chief Secretary with only a few months to go before the polls. Is it enough time for him to script another success story? Nitish Kumar would be hoping it is.