Shri Sharatchandra Dongre came to the UK in 1961. For the
first two years, he worked as an assistant to a development engineer in
Goodmans Loudspeaker Industries. In 1963, he joined the then Ministry
of Education. This Whitehall Department subsequently became the Department
for Education and Science, Department for Education and Employment and
is currently the Department for Education and Skills.
After completing 35 years of service, Shri Dongre retired in December
1998. During his time in the Department, he worked in the policy and administration
areas of Teachers Pensions, ADP (Automatic Data Processing and computer
programming), Schools and Higher Education, Training, Industrial Relations
and Records Management.
In May 1999, on the Prime Minister’s recommendation that he be appointed
a ‘Member of the Order of the British Empire’ (MBE), Shri Dongre’s
name was submitted to the Queen to be included in her list of Birthday
Honours. The list was officially published on 12th June 1999 in which
Shri Dongre’s name was included.
On the occasion of India’s Independence Day, on 15th August 1999,
H. E. Shri Lalit Mansingh, the High Commissioner for India, held a ceremony
at India House to felicitate British citizens of Indian origin, like Shri
Dongre, who had received recognition for excellence in their sphere of
activity. During the 1999 Ganesh Utsav, Maharashtra Mandal London’s
President, Mr. Uday Bhonsle, presented him with an engraved plaque to
mark his achievement. The investiture itself took place at the Buckingham
Palace on 9th November 1999. H R H The Prince of Wales performed the ceremony.
Since his retirement, Shri Dongre has been dividing his time between helping
educationally disadvantaged people at a charity called ‘InterAct’
in Chelmsford, helping non-English speakers to learn English at the Community
Centre in Braintree and his hobbies include reading, playing the harmonica,
flute and violin.
Contact
details: Sharatchandra Dongre::sharad_dongre@hotmail.com |
