Aurangabad, Feb 24:
Former IAS officer Bhujangrao Kulkarni, who had served at various administrative positions in Maharashtra, passed away at around 2.15 pm on Wednesday. He had turned 104 on February 5. His career as the head of the first census of the state, commissioner of Pune municipal corporation, district collector of Aurangabad, revenue commissioner of Mumbai, a torchbearer in the establishment of the then Marathwada University and later 2 times as Vice-Chancellor are notable.
Bhujangrao, who started his administrative career in the pre-independence state of Hyderabad in 1939, retired in 1974 as the secretary of the state irrigation department. He was awarded the lifetime achievement award from Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University, Govindbhai Shroff Memorial Award of Swami Ramanand Teertha Research Institute. He had also served on the state planning board and as a member of the Dandekar Committee and as a member and chairman of the Marathwada Statutory Development Board. He made his mark while working in the Dandekar committee, Nhava Sheva port, accounts committee of non-agricultural universities, Marathwada Gramin Bank, monopoly cotton procurement scheme, state planning board, textile mill and state irrigation commission. Post-retirement, he continued to work for many organizations like Saraswati Bhuvan, Swami Ramananda Teertha Research Institute, Centron Company and as a member of various committees.
He is survived by his son Padmakar Kulkarni (USA), daughters Mangala Batte (USA) and Dr Usha Nandedkar. He was the grandfather of the head of the Ophthalmology department of the GMCH, Dr Varsha Nandedkar, Shubhada Patil and Nirja Kulkarni. He also has a large extended family.
Brief introduction of Kulkarni:
-Born on February 5, 1918, in Gadhe Pimpalgaon (Teh Parli, Beed) in a farmer family.
-Passed matriculation examination from Aurangabad in 1932.
-Married in 1934 at the age of 17.
-Passed B.Sc. from Hyderabad in 1936.
-Passed M.Sc in Physics with the first rank in 1938.
-In 1939, during the Nizam's rule, he joined the civil administrative service as a tehsildar in Medak tehsil.
-Joined Aurangabad as district land record officer in 1940.
- He was promoted to the post of assistant commissioner in 1947.
- IAS in 1950.
- Joined as district collector in Nanded in 1953.
- Appointed as secretary of land commission in 1954.
- District collector in Aurangabad 1956
- Worked as chief for 1959 state census
- Commissioner of Pune municipal corporation in 1965
- Worked as secretary, urban development, health and housing in Mumbai in 1969
- Responsibility as secretary, state irrigation department 1969
-Retired at the end of 1974 as the secretary in the irrigation department.