2016-01-16 Sat

Lakshmi Kant Jha, MBE born on 22nd November in Bhagalpur, Bihar.He was the eighth Governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 1 July 1967 to 3 May 1970.

A member of the 1936 batch of the Indian Civil Service, he was educated at BHU, Varanasi, Trinity College, Cambridge University, and London School of Economics, U.K.

L K Jha rose to be a Deputy Secretary in the Department of Supply, during British rule and was appointed an MBE for his service in the 1946 New Year Honours. After Independence he had served as secretary in the Ministries of Industries, Commerce and Finance and Secretary to the Prime Minister of India, Lal Bahadur Shastri (1964-66) and Indira Gandhi(1966-67) prior to his appointment as Governor of RBI.

During his tenure the Indian Rupee notes of denominations of Indian Rupee symbol.svg 2, 5, 10, and 100, commemorating the birth centenary of Mahatma Gandhi were released on 2 October 1969, these notes bear his signature, both in English and Hindi.

Today is the 28th death anniversary of L.K Jha. The RBI holds L.K. Jha Memorial Lectures to commemorate him.