One of the close associates of Mahatma is Shailesh Kumar Bandopadhya who was honored by Government of India with Padma Bhusan. Details of his life and activities is given below.
* He was born on 10th March 1926 at Chakradharpur now in Jharkhand. His father was an employee in Railways.
* He passed Matriculation in the year 1942 and soon after joined Quit India movement and arrested twice.
* From 1944 to 1946 joined trade union in Tatanagar with well known trade unionists such as Abdul Bari, Michael John, Moni Ghosh and became full time Congress worker.
* From 1946 to 1951 he became office secretary District Congress Committee and was in charge Gandhian Village Reconstruction Center named after Abdul Bari, situated about ten miles from Jamshedpur.
* From 1951 to 1961 was worked as worker in All India Spinner's Association or Charkha Sangh, Sevagram. He also joined Bhudan - Gramdaan movement in Bihar to distribute land to landless farmers.
* In 1961 he was invited by the Khadi & Village Industries Commission to join as Deputy Director in charge State Office, Kolkata. He retired as Deputy Chief Executive Officer in the year 1984 after serving as Director Administration and State Director, Bihar, Orissa and West Bengal. While in Kolkata he was entrusted with responsibility of Gandhi Centenary Committee as Chief Executive.
* From 1984 to 2002 he was Secretary, Gandhi Smarak Nidhi and wioth additional responsibility of Secretary of Gandhi Peace Foundation. He was also Joint Convenor, Khadi Mission.
* He was appointed as Member, Khadi & Village Industries Commission for the first time in the year 1984. He was then selected as Member of High Power Committee on KVIC under chairmanship of Prime Minister of India.
* He became Chairman, Central Cirtification Committee on Khadi thrice.
* In the year 2006 he was appointed as Member Khadi & Village Industries Commission for second time. He is still involved with various grass root organizations working for rural poor and for peace.
* A prolific writer who wrote articles and books on various subjects. He was awarded with literary awards such as Ananda Puroskar for his book on Jinnah and Pakistan, Ashalata Puroskar by Viswa Bharati University for his book on Communal Riots and lifetime awards such as Annada Shankar Literary Award by Bangla Academy and so on. He writes fictions using pen name Moinak
* He is Awarded Pasdma Bhusan during 2010.
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