HYDERABAD: Dr B.S. Rao would have been yet another medical professional who returned home after a successful stint in England and Iran. However, his initiative in the field of Intermediate education, way back in 1986, made his ‘Sri Chaitanya’ group of educational institutions a household name for Telugus and beyond over the last few decades, helping millions of students realise their dream of becoming doctors and engineers.
On Thursday, these millions of achievers and aspirants were in for a shock, upon hearing about the sad demise of Rao. An ever-smiling and soft-spoken person fondly referred to as “doctor garu”, Rao breathed his last after suffering a massive heart attack in the afternoon at his residence in Jubilee Hills. He was rushed to a corporate hospital but did not survive.
Rao was 75 and is survived by his wife Jhansi and two daughters, Sushma and Seema. His body was shifted to his native place Tadigadapa, on the outskirts of Vijayawada.
According to family members, one of his daughters is currently abroad and the last rites will be performed after her return.
“Rao devoted his life to offering accessible and excellent education to children,” said former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, in a condolence message on Twitter.
What started as Sri Chaitanya Girls Junior College in Vijayawada in 1986 and Boys College in 1991 in Hyderabad have now gradually metamorphosed into a mega coaching platform, which currently has 321 junior colleges and almost an equal number of techno schools, besides 107 CBSE-affiliated schools, with a student strength of 13 lakhs.
The gruelling coaching hours and fierce competition with rivals left a few black marks, but the testimonials of thousands of rankers establish that the Rao couple’s greatest contribution to the Telugus was instilling confidence — particularly among the poor children of sweepers, street vendors, office peons, security guards and small-time drivers — that they too can cherish a dream and realise it.
“He led a simple life and never liked luxury. All that the couple earned has been invested back into imparting education only. He boldly faced the odds,” said K. Narasimha Rao, a close associate of Rao and managing director of EyeAds.
Perhaps he was deeply contended with his efforts in helping the group achieve a rare fete of three of its students, B. Varun Chakravarthi, S. Venkata Koundinya and V. Chidvilas Reddy score the first rank in the open category this year's NEET, JEE-Mains and JEE Advanced, respectively, over the past few months.
