About Shankarji
Shri Shankarji, born in Hyderabad on May 12, 1912, hailed from a respectable Yadava family. He grew in an atmosphere of social work and leadership under his able father Shri Nagoji, who was the Choudhary of the Yadav Community and rendered yeoman service for the welfare and upliftment of the members of the community.
After graduating from Osmania University, Shri Shankarji started his official career as an Assistant Assessor and Collector of the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad. While in service of the corporation, he was deputed to study the working of important Municipal Corporations in India, such as, Bombay, Madras, Nagpur, etc., where he also had an opportunity to study the working of the sales tax system.
He held the post of Member of Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal and was subsequently appointed a Member of the Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission in June 1956, and later elevated to the coveted post of Chairman of the Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission in April 1970.
Besides having to his credit a brilliant record of a dedicated public servant, Shri Shankarji possessed a remarkable zeal and energy for social work. He is the moving spirit behind the working of the Osmania Graduate Association and its sister organisations, Exhibition Society and Economic Committee which are playing a pioneering role in the advancement of education, particularly higher education in the Telangana area.
He was the prime mover in establishing a network of educational institutions, namely, Shankarji Memorial Girls High School, Sarojini Naidu Maha Vidyalaya – a first grade college in Arts & Science for Women, Sardar Patel College at Secunderabad, Lal Bhadur College at Warangal,
Sri Venkateswara College at Suryapet and Sri Laxminarasimha Swamy College at Bhongir, besides several others.
He was also instrumental in launching Hyderabad Publications and Newspapers Pvt. Ltd. and their publication of Andhra Pradesh Year Book in 1972. He also took keen interest in the working of several other voluntary organisations like the Indian National Theatre, Jiv Raksha Gyan Pracharak Mandali, Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, etc.
Shri Shankarji will always be remembered as the driving force that propelled the Exhibition Society over many decades from a fledgling organization to a mature social service institution. His personality and leadership style motivated many senior officers in government and industry to rally around him and work with him. The unstinted efforts of this team enabled the Exhibition Society to become an organization that provided encouragement to small industries, vocational training for women and establishing institutions for graduate and post-graduate education. Admired by young and old alike, Shri Shankarji represented a happy blend and finest in what is well known as Hyderabadi culture.
