Retired bureaucrat Shakti Sinha, who served as private secretary to the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, passed away on Monday.
Sinha, a 1979 batch IAS officer, took voluntary retirement in 2013 while serving as Finance Secretary in the Delhi Government and joined the BJP a year later.
Sinha was the Director of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) from 2016-19 and played a key role in the development of a museum of all former prime ministers at the Teen Murti Bhawan complex.
“How fragile the life is! Met Shakti Sinha ji only yesterday and had a long and enriching interaction. Now he’s no more. Deeply distressing,” Ajay Singh, press secretary to President Ram Nath Kovind, tweeted.
Sinha also headed the United Nation’s governance and development team in Afghanistan from 2006-09, coordinating donor support to the Afghan government. He also worked as Senior Advisor to Executive Director on the World Bank board from 2000 to 2004.
Sinha was a post-graduate in history and international communication and policy from the Delhi University.
He also served as Chief Secretary, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and also as Education Secretary of Goa.
Leaders and academicians from across the country mourned his death.
“He had so much to contribute in the many endeavours he was involved in. We will miss his sharp insights and commitment to the national cause,” Niti Ayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar said.
Sinha also helped establish two institutions -- Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Policy Research and International Studies at MS University, Vadodara, and Delhi School of Public Policy and Governance, University of Delhi.
Sinha authored a memoir of that period when he worked with Atal Bihari Vajpayee titled 'Vajpayee: The Years That Changed India.'
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(Published 04 October 2021, 15:50 IST)
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