Former caretaker govt adviser Dhiraj Kumar dies

Staff Correspondent: Former adviser to  the caretaker government Dhiraj Kumar Nath has died. He was 73.

He breathed his last at the capital's Labaid Hospital around 5:50pm on Friday.

Nripendra Chandra Debnath, husband of a niece of Dhiraj, confirmed the news to media.

He said, "On Thursday, he (Dhiraj) was hospitalised with serious respiratory problems. On Friday afternoon, he was put on life support at the intensive care unit (ICU) of the private hospital as his condition deteriorated.  But he died there."

He, however, told nothing over the funeral of Dhiraj.

Born at Rafiqpur village in Noakhali’s Begumganj on Jan 9, 1945, Dhiraj graduated from Dhaka University in business studies in 1966 and joined Noakhali Government College as a management lecturer.

He joined the East Pakistan Civil Service in 1969 and worked as deputy magistrate and deputy collector in Pabna and Patuakhali , respectively.

After taking part in the Liberation War, he was appointed section officer of independent Bangladesh’s foreign trade department in 1972.

He served as the first administrator of Gazipur when it was a Mahakuma, a now defunct local government unit, in 1978. He also worked as additional deputy commissioner in Comilla in 1980-81.

Being promoted to deputy secretary as a member of Senior Policy Pool in 1981, he worked at the coordination section of Population Control and Family Planning Division.

Dhiraj is praised for the role he played as the director general of the Directorate General of Family Planning in 1998-99.

He has authored 12 books, including travelogue, and compilation of articles, and novels.

 

risingbd/Dhaka/January 5, 2018/Nur/A K Azad