It has been announced by the President's Office that Bihar's Jan Nayak and former Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur will be awarded India's 49th highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna, posthumously. This announcement was made a day before the birth centenary of the late socialist leader. Thakur served as the Chief Minister of Bihar twice, from December 1970 to June 1971 and from December 1977 to April 1979. He was born in 1924 in Samastipur district of Bihar, belonging to the Nai (Barber) clan, which is considered as one of the most backward sections of the society.
He was a social activist who left college to join the Quit India Movement. During the freedom struggle, he spent two and a half years in jail. He was arrested again in the 1960s and 1970s for participating in labor strikes. Thakur was elected as a member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly for the first time in 1952 from Tajpur, as a candidate of the Socialist Party.
He served as a minister and deputy chief minister before becoming the first non-Congress socialist Chief Minister of Bihar in 1970. Thakur became the Chief Minister of Bihar for the second time after the Janata Party came to power. Alcohol prohibition was one of the reforms he introduced. As Education Minister, he removed English from the list of compulsory subjects for matriculation.
Thakur is considered the mentor of prominent Bihari leaders like Lalu Prasad Yadav, Ram Bilas Paswan, Devendra Prasad Yadav and Nitish Kumar.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi described Karpoori Thakur as an "icon of social justice" and hailed his unwavering commitment to the upliftment of the backward classes and visionary leadership for leaving an indelible mark on the socio-political fabric of India. The Prime Minister expressed his happiness that the Government of India has decided to confer the Bharat Ratna on Karpoori Thakur at a time when the nation is celebrating his birth centenary.
Thakur made a significant contribution by introducing the 'Karpoori Thakur Formula' for reservation. The formula aimed to ensure equal representation for backward classes in government services. In November 1978, he implemented 26 percent reservation for backward classes in Bihar, which set the stage for the Mandal Commission recommendations in the 1990s.
