Late Shri Manoj Kumar Srivastava is amongst the most acclaimed IAS officers of the Bihar cadre. Born in 1954 in Bihar, he pursued his BSc. in Physics from St. Xavier’s College, Ranchi, where he stood 2nd in the University, following which he joined the JNU, from where he completed his MA in Sociology. At the JNU, while studying for the MA in Sociology, he was awarded with 13 ‘A’ grades out of 16, which was a record unbeaten for many years that is known of (CGPA 7.6). After this, he competed for the prestigious Indian Administrative Service (IAS) by securing the 3rd position all over India in the Civil Services Exam, and joined the Bihar cadre (1980 batch).
He had a distinguished career as a public servant, wherein he served in a number of important positions in the Government of Bihar, and finally superannuated from the service in 2015 from the rank equivalent to Chief Secretary to the State Government (Secretary to the Government of India). More importantly, he earned a formidable reputation for his pro-poor, pro-people approach, and remained true to his core concern for people’s empowerment and good governance all through his career. His encyclopediac knowledge base, commitment to upholding the highest standards of integrity and probity in public life, and his ability and willingness to speak truth to power, is the stuff of legends, stories of which are well known across Bihar.
In particular, his stint as District Magistrate & Collector of Bhojpur (Arrah), where he won the trophy for the Best DM for the year, is remembered across generations. Shri Srivastava did such memorable work that when he was transferred out in just a year for refusing to toe the line of the sitting MP, the public came out on the streets and kept “Arrah bandh” for a month against his transfer! As DDC of Ranchi, he won the appreciation of the then Dy. Chairman, Planning Commission, Dr. Manmohan Singh (former Prime Minister of India), for bringing in innovations through a Cluster Approach in the implementation of the Integrated Rural Development Program (IRDP) at the grassroots. Commendations from the Supreme Court for his pathbreaking work on identification and release of bonded labourers, control of Anti-Sikh riots in Patna and Babri Masjid riots in Sasaram, renovation and upkeep of the Sher Shah Suri makbara, release from kidnapping of the Head Priest of the Patna Sahib, building Sudha as a brand name through a cooperative milk producers federation, organizing the largest ever and most effective flood relief operation in the history of Bihar, and turnaround of a loss making State Tourism Development Corporation and building the Buddhist Circuit in Bihar, are amongst many of his pioneering contributions in the service.
While in the service, owing to his lifelong pursuit of academic excellence and knowledge enrichment, Shri Srivastava also went on study leave on multiple occasions. He completed his Masters in International Development from the Cornell University, USA on a World Bank scholarship; worked as a Research Scholar/Research Fellow at the London School of Economics (LSE), UK and Cambridge University, UK; he was a SPURS Fellow at the MIT, USA; he also served briefly as a Research Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Law & Governance, JNU. In 2009, he became the first recipient of the prestigious Jamsetji Tata Fellowship awarded by the LSE, a position he served for 2 years. Post superannuation from the IAS, he was serving as a Distinguished Fellow at the IIM Ahmedabad, and as an Adjunct Professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru. He has also co-authored the book Seeing the State which was published by Cambridge University Press, and has 15+ research papers published in international peer reviewed journals.
Shri Srivastava passed away in Patna in August, 2020, after suffering from Covid-19. Every year in his memory, the Manoj Srivastava Annual Memorial Lecture is delivered in Patna in August. Nobel Laureate Prof. Abhijit Banerjee delivered the first memorial lecture in 2021, while Hon’ble Union Minister Sh. R.K. Singh delivered the second lecture in 2022. Prof. Ashutosh Varshney (Brown University, USA and world renowned political scientist) delivered the 3rd memorial lecture in Patna in August 2023, while Magsaysay Award winning rural affairs journalist Sh. P. Sainath delivered the 4th lecture in Patna in August, 2024.