Jaintpur

Jaintpur
village
Country	India
State	Bihar
District	Muzaffarpur
Languages
• Official	Maithili, Hindi
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)

Jaintpur is a village in Muzaffarpur district, Bihar state, India. Also known as Jaintpur Estate, it is situated on the banks of a Himalayan glacier-fed perennial river, the Baya Nadi River, between NH-102 (Saraiya) and NH-28 (Motipur). It is a popular place in the Muzaffarpur district.

Jaintpur Estate is the home of the family of one of the most preeminent and powerful Zamindar in Bihar, Badri Vishal Naryan Prasad Singh, who was awarded with Diwan Bahadur. It is supposedly one of the most powerful political families in Bihar. Mahesh Babu and Usha Sinha along with her late husband Virendar Kumar Singh represented Vaishali and Paroo in Lok Sabha and the state assembly for over a decade. The family is well known not only for its land, politics and wealth but also for its honesty integrity and dedication towards the welfare of Bihar.

It should be recalled that in the 19th century, the Jaintpur zamindar (estate), Mahanth Raja Ram Das had established residential English cum vernacular school under the auspices of Syed Imdad Ali’s Bihar Scientific Society, Muzaffarpur. Stephen Henningham informs us that the Jaintpur estate had extended financial help to the cash-starved Congress during the Civil Disobedience Movement, 1930-34. In 1899, the Jaintpur estate, Mahanth Raghunath Das offered Rs 50,000 to the Bihar Scientific Society and the Bhumihar Brahman Sabha to open a college, which got named after Langat Singh in 1950. Mahesh Babu’s youngest daughter Usha Sinha was married to Birendra Kumar Singh (1943–95), the Jaintpur zamindar, who represented Paroo (Muzaffarpur) in the Bihar Assembly more than once. Birendra Singh also started an NGO, Lok Shiksha Sansthan; in 1993. Given his sensitivity for linguistic minority, unlike most other Public schools, the Public School run by the Lok Shiksha Sansthan offers the teaching of Urdu literature from standard V to X, and is shining as the best Public School of north Bihar. The District Gazetter of Muzaffarpur has glowing words to appreciate the Jaintpur estate for patronizing, education, art and culture.

Mrs Usha Sinha (born in 1944, she was elected MLA from Paroo, Muzaffarpur in 1985, and then to the Lok Sabha from Vaishali in 1989; served as Deputy Minister, Family Welfare in the Union government led by VP Singh) is particularly more concerned about the political empowerment of the women, testified by her efforts at mobilizing the women to join the Congress. This exercise is a passion for her, and she remains undaunted by the fact that in recent decades it is an uphill task to persuade people to join the Congress in Bihar, more so when the necessary organizational support is also not forthcoming. In the Bihar Assembly (1985–90), she was lone legislator to have raised her voices asking the government to formulate a plan for the low-lying wet-land (chaur) of flood-prone north Bihar, for substantive agricultural improvement. In his political outlook, Mahesh Babu was more inclined towards the Gandhian values. He was extended, since his childhood, support by Shri Krishna Sinha (d. 1961), with whose help Mahesh Babu could pursue his studies in Monghyr and Patna. Shri Babu remained much helpful to him throughout his life for which he earned certain criticism, from various corners of the Congress party afflicted with bitter factionalism. In a personal note of memoir, his daughter, Usha Sinha says: “My father never imposed anything upon any one; it was his personal example that inculcated a sense of loyalty in his followers. I never found him reprimanding anybody, including the children of our family. One particular trait of his that has stuck with me was his belief in democratic principles whether at home or in the political arena. He was also a humble, soft-spoken, and disciplined man who had firm faith in the philosophy of humanism and secularism”. [Hindustan Times, Patna]

Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of Bihar paid a tribute to him on 22 June 2006 when he visited Mahesh Babu’s ancestral village, Karnauti (Mahnar, Vaishali) and announced to upgrade the Middle School, named after Kamla, the wife of Mahesh Babu. This school is housed in the ancestral house of Mahesh Babu, which he had donated for the education of his villagers. In Monghyr, Kamla Seva Sadan and the Kamla-Mahesh Library are also functioning. This has a collection of thousands of books which were in the reading and possession of Mahesh Babu. Kamla had given up consuming salt ever since the Salt Satyagraha, and used only Khadiclothes throughout her life. Himself having undergone the tribulations and deprivations of an orphan child, he had also established an orphanage. Muzaffarpur, a fastest growing city, cannot forget the contributions of Mahesh Babu and the Jaintpur Estate, as a token of which they have named the chowk of Juran Chapra in the city, after this leader. Mahesh Babu’s eldest daughter, Krishna Shahi, represented Begusarai in Lok Sabha several times and she also served as Union Minister. The affairs of Estate are currently managed by Usha Sinha, followed by her two sons Anunay Kumar Singh and Anuneet. The descendant of the royal family is Anantveer Kumar Singh.