Kogics Foundation would like to celebrate the life of Shri. J. C. Pant, who gave up his body and left for his onward journey on 13 th. June, 2025. Sh. Pant was the father of our Managing Trustee Lalit Pant, and inspired Lalit from a very early age to think for himself and figure things out for himself. This led Lalit on a lifelong journey of self-learning and the creation of many software products, and in time led to the creation of Kojo and the Kogics Foundation.

Sh. Pant was a retired IAS officer (1961 batch), who held important positions in the Govt. of Uttar Pradesh (as Principal Secretary) and the Govt. of India (as Secretary). His notable contributions to Bharat include seminal work in the areas of Education – as Education Secretary of UP, water utilisation and Watershed Development – as Agriculture Secretary of India, Polio Eradication (via Pulse Polio immunization) – as Health and Family Welfare Secretary of India, and Disaster Management – as Chairman of the High-Power-Committee on Disaster Management constituted by Sh. Atal Bihari Bajpai, PM of India. He was also the Chairman of the Administrative Reforms Commision (ARC) of the newly created state of Uttarakhand.

Sh. Pant was born in Almora, moved to Mussoorie at a young age, and studied till class 10 at the Hindi-medium Ghananand Inter-college. He then moved to the English-medium St. George’s school for classes 11 and 12. During this period of difficult transition in his education, he came in contact with Swami Bhramananda Saraswati, Shankaracharya of Badrinath (who gave Diksha to Sh. J. C. Pant’s father Sh. T. C. Pant). The satsang and blessings of Swami Bhramananda Saraswati changed the course of his life, got him going on the path of spiritual development, and inspired him to work hard and do well in his studies at St. George’s school. From a second division result in the grade 10 board exam at Ghananand Inter-college, he improved to being the topper in his grade 12 board exam at St. George’s school. From there he went on to Allahabad University to do a BSc and MSc in Math. After he finished his MSc studies, he had a year to spare before he could appear for the IAS exam, and he spent this year learning mountaineering at the National Institute of Mountaineering at Uttarkashi (basic course) and Darjeeling (advanced course). During this time, he climbed various peaks in the Himalayas as part of mountaineering expeditions from these Institutes.

Sh. Pant then appeared for the IAS exams, was selected, and started his journey as a bureaucrat in 1961. He came in contact with Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya in 1979. His first meeting with Acharyaji made a huge impact on him. In his own words:

“During the meeting with Acharyasri, which may have been for about an hour, I seemed to be completely oblivious of the passage of time. I was experiencing a strange kind of elation mixed with disbelief whether what I was going through was real. The sense of elation seemed to be due to a subtle awareness that I had finally reached my destination, and the disbelief was due to a feeling that how could I possibly be so lucky as to be face to face with someone I could look up to as my master, my Guru. I was clearly overwhelmed by his presence without being overawed, and whatever I was experiencing was very pleasant and subtle. This awareness of his benevolent presence was to be my constant companion at all times, and is so to this day”.

He went on to accept Acharyaji as his Guru, and with Acharyaji’s guidance and the support of his organization Shanti-Kunj, carried out many impactful programs for the betterment of Bharat via the machinery of the UP government. Sh. J. C. Pant’s ideas and body of work are being ably carried forward by REACHA, an NGO that he created in 1992.

For more information on Sh. J. C. Pant’s life, you can download his book – Pandit Sriram Sharma Acharya As I knew Him … The Memoirs of A Civil Servant.

Kogics Foundation, inspired by Sh. J. C. Pant’s words and his life, is commited to doing original/creative research, product development, and action – for the betterment of Bharat and the rest of the World.

Om Shanti . Om Sadgati