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OBITUARY Sri T Rajagopala Chari

Dr T Raja Gopalachari
Magazine : Mother of All
Language : English
Volume Number : 12
Month : April
Issue Number : 2
Year : 2013

Sri Topu Rajagopala Chari was born on 19 April 1928 at Gadwal of Mahaboobnagar District of erstwhile Hyderabad state. He lived with his parents near Krishna agraharam. He studied at Gadwal State High School and moved to Hyderabad city for higher education. He studied Intermediate and B.A. (Public Administration) at the Nizam College and did his LLB degree from Osmania University. He later acquired a Post Graduate diploma in Public Administration and Local Self Government. He had an excellent academic record throughout his higher education. He married Smt Lalita in 1953 at Guntur. She was the daughter of late Sri K Krishnamachari, the then Deputy Collector of Guntur. They were blessed with two daughters Chandrakala and Sudha and Raju, the son.

Sri Chari started his employment as a lower division clerk at the local self governance department at the Andhra Pradesh Government secretariat at Hyderabad. He became the Assistant Public Relations Officer of the Secunderabad Municipal Corporation and was later elevated as the Public Relations Officer of the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad. He was posted as the Municipal Commissioner of Mahaboobnagar District of Andhra Pradesh for a period of three years. He held all these positions with a great amount of dedication, administrative skills and distinction.

Sri Rajagopala Chari maintained his meteoric rise in his professional career and held the very important position of Competent Authority under AP Housing Board. Later he was appointed as the Director of the Urban Community Development, of the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad. He made a deep impression on the implementation of several community development programmes launched by the corporation. He contributed to the publication of a landmark book on urban poverty in Metropolitan Cities of India.

He took voluntary retirement from government service in 1983 to become a World Bank Adviser on urban development programmes. He continued in this position for more than a decade. Sri Rajagopala Chari took great interest in community welfare and sports promotion activities. He held the honorary positions, some of which are, Vice President of Indian Olympic Association, AP Kabaddi Association, Andhra Pradesh Handball Association, AP Olympic Association and finally represented in IOC to serve the cause of Indian sports. He was also the founding president of Andhra Pradesh Archery Association. He was instrumental in creating the Old Age Welfare Center and Old Age Welfare Trust and actively involved in managing it for 30 years bringing International visibility.

Sri Rajagopala Chari took great interest in vedic literature and Indian philosophy. He participated in several scholarly discourses in these subjects. He was mainly responsible for the establishment of Viswajanani Parishat Trust at Jillellamudi near Bapatla in Andhra Pradesh during the 1970s. He came in close contact with Her Holiness Jillellamudi Amma and became her disciple. He arranged her memorable visit to Hyderabad city in early 1970s. He fully devoted the last part of his life to the cause of public good and charity. Sri Chari breathed his last in the early hours of 25th of March, 2013, at the Star Hospitals in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad leaving behind his beloved wife, three children, their spouses and six grandchildren.

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