Shrikant Jichkar

Dr.Shrikant Jichkar (September 14, 1954 - June 2, 2004) was an Indian politician and member of the Congress Party.

Family Background

He was born in a wealthy farmer's family in Aajangaon near Katol in Nagpur district, Maharashtra, India. Besides farming his family runs other industries. He was married with two children.

Education Triva

He had 20 post-graduate University Degrees. Beginning as a Medical Doctor (MBBS and MD ) he did his Law (LL.B.) with Post-graduation in International Law (LL.M.) and his Masters in Business Administration (DBM and MBA) and in Journalism (B.Journ). He did his Masters in ten subjects. M.A. (Public Administration) ; M.A. (Sociology) ; M.A. (Economics); M.A. (Sanskrit); M.A. (History); M.A.(English Literature); M.A. (Philosophy); M.A. (Political Science) ; M.A. (Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology); M.A (Psychology). He got his D. Litt (Doctor of Letters) in Sanskrit. Most of his Degrees are with First Merit and he has obtained 28 Gold Medals. Between 1972 and 1990 he has written 42 university examinations. Limca Book of Records lists him as the "most qualified" person in India. In 1978 he wrote the UPSC exam, and got into the Indian Police Service; resigned, took the exam again in 1980, got into the Indian Administrative Service only to resign in four months to contest his first general election.Out of his 42 University exams,he got gold medals in 26 degree exams.He completed most of his degrees from the Shivaji University,Kolhapur.

Political career

In 1977, he was elected President of the Nagpur University Student's Council. In 1980 he was elected to Maharashtra Legislative Assembly becoming the youngest MLA in the country at 25 and subsequently became a very powerful government minister holding 14 portfolios at a time. After 12 years in the Maharashtra Legislature he was elected to the Indian Parliament in 1992 where he was MP till 1998. In 1999 he lost the election to the Lok Sabha by a slender margin of 3000 votes in an electorate of 1.4 million voters.

He rose in politics as a student and youth leader. He has worked on several important committees of the State and Central Government , including the Parliamentary Standing committee on Finance; Patents committee; the Planning Board; Resources Mobilization Committee; Taxation Reforms committee , High Power committee on Irrigation and on Transport. He served as a member of legislative assembly of Maharashtra from 1980 to 1992 and member of Rajya Sabha between 1992 and 1998. He also contested the Lok Sabha election from Ramtek in 2004 but lost to Shiv Sena's Subodh Mohite. He held ministers post in almost all departments.He was the minister of states in maharashtra government in 1982 when the policemen of the state had called a strike.He had a key role in rounding up the strike.

Hobbies

A very good painter, professional photographer and a good stage actor. He had one of the biggest personal libraries in India with 52,000 books. He travelled all around India speaking on economic topics and giving religious discourses. He was the founding president of HAMRadio association, India and Chinmoy mission.

It is believed that he survived cancer. After one year he died in a car accident. His car collided with a bus about 60 kilometres from Nagpur while he was on his way back to Nagpur from his farmhouse in Amravati. He sustained multiple injuries and was rushed to a private nursing home where he succumbed to his wounds.

External links (Sources)

* [http://shrikantjichkar.com/milestones.htm "Memorial website for Shrikant Jichkar"] - Personal Site, Photos
* [http://www.rediff.com/news/2004/jun/02shri.htm "Shrikant Jichkar killed in road accident"] - rediff.com
* [http://in.rediff.com/news/2004/jun/03jich.htm "Shrikant Jichkar - A gentle politician"] - rediff.com
* [http://in.rediff.com/news/2004/jun/03shri.htm "Dr. Shrikant Jichkar - A scholar-politician"] - rediff.com