Dr Shrikant Jichkar was regarded as India's most learned man, having earned several degrees, cleared the UPSC exam twice, and later entered politics, where is also emerged victorious.
Shrikant Jichkar hailing from Katol, Maharashtra, is renowned as the most educated individual in the history of India. He started his career as an IAS officer but, later left the service to enter politics. At the young age of 26, he became the youngest Member of the Legislative Assembly in India, attaining an astonishing feat.
Jichkar was born on September 14, 1954, to a Marathi family. He was a genius from the beginning and was known as the 'man of staggering academic, professional and spiritual achievement'. His first degrees were MBBS followed by MD from Nagpur. After this, he embarked on a journey of earning several degrees in public administration, economics, psychology, international law, business administration, Sanskrit, history, sociology, English literature, philosophy, political science, and ancient Indian history, culture and archaeology.
The young scholar received several gold medals and awards for his degrees. According to reports, from 1973 to 1990, Shrikant gained admission to over 42 universities and their exams and achieved 20 degrees. He used to write these tests during summers and winters every year. In 1978, he cleared the UPSC exam and started his duty as a central civil servant in the Indian Police Service.
Once again in his pursuit of excellence, Shrikant left his position and cleared the UPSC exam once again, this time for the position of IAS officer. Not only that but atop all his achievements, Jichkar ran for political office and triumphed, making him an MLA at the young age of 26, mere weeks after securing his position as an IAS officer.
Shrikant served as the State Minister of the Maharashtra government and was also a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from 1980 to 1985. He was also a member of the Rajya Sabha India from 1992-1998.
In 1992, he founded the Sandipani School in Nagpur, based on the idea of all-round development and personality growth of children.
On 2 June 2004, Shrikant was involved in a major car accident near Kondhali where a truck hit the car, resulting in his untimely passing.
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