SRINAGAR: Dr Ravi Kulbhushan Jerath, retired IAS officer of Jammu and Kashmir cadre, passed away. He fought Covid19 for around 10 days and breathed his last at Mata Vaishno Devi shrine broad run Narayana Hospital, reports reaching from Jammu said.
Dr Jerath has presided over a number of departments and was also a member of the State Vigilance Commission. A 1980-batch IAS officer, Jerath retired as Principal Secretary to the government. Earlier, he served as Jammu and Kashmir’s Vigilance Commissioner, Commissioner Secretary GAD, Financial Commissioner Revenue, Principal Secretary Health and Medical Education, Social Welfare besides holding other important positions. He was Deputy Commissioner, Leh. He retired almost eight years ago.
Though the Jerath family was living in Gandhi Nagar, he actually belonged to a rich family that lived in Jammu’s Jhulaka Mohalla. It was there that he was schooled in a government school. Jerath had joined the government as a non-gazetted employee before qualifying for the IAS. It was only after he entered IAS that he wrote a book and also completed his PhD.
Jerath’s wife, a medical doctor, has also retired as the head of the department of a major non-clinical department in the health sector. Their only son is working in the USA and had flown home only last week after being told that his parents have contracted Covid19. Mrs Jerath is still in quarantine but not in the hospital, sources close to the family said.
Jerath’s death was widely condoled by the family friends and the people who have worked with him. Former minister Ajay Kumar Sadhotra, with whom Jerath worked as Food Secretary, said he was “a wonderful human being, and a very dedicated, meticulous and down to earth officer.”
A joint statement by a host of IAS and IPS officers from the Jammu and Kashmir cadre have expressed sorrow over the death. “We all fondly recall our long association with Dr Ravi K Jerath and remember him as a very simple, down to earth and humble person, dignified in his conduct and always willing to lend a helping hand to the needy,” the statement said. “Most of us had the good fortune of interacting with him socially and enjoying his sense of humour, company and hospitality.” They sad his book is an insiders’ account on Public Administration in India.
