User:Anandhi1212/RJ Sridharan

RJ Sridharan Rajendram Jagannathan Sridharan, affectionately addressed as Com RJS by the Indian banking fraternity was born on April 9th, 1949. He was born to moderate Tamil Iyengar Brahmin parents in a small village Sikkalnaikenpettai near Thirupananthal in what was then Thanjavur District in Tamil Nadu in India. His parents being late Shri R.S.Jagannathan and Smt.R.Jayalakshmi.

At the time of his demise, he was 64 and still regarded as a key pillar in the Bank Officer's Trade Union Movement in India and has been a chief negotiator with the IBA or Indian Banks'Association [] and Government between 1990-2010. He is credited with the enormous contribution to bank workers in obtaining Pension as a third benefit across nationalized banks in India.



Early Life & Education When he was a child, his family moved in and around the Trichy area where he completed his studies from the National College (PUC) He received his Bachelor in Commerce at St Joseph's College Trichy.

Banking Career - 1969-2009

After a brief stint at a private company, he joined Canara_Bank as a clerk in the year 1969. He was elected as Branch Secretary of Canara Bank Employees' Union in 1970 He was nominated as Zonal Secretary of the Canara Bank Employees’ Union (CBEU). He was promoted in the year 1976 – After serving in the north and upcountry branches in Tamilnadu he returned to Chennai in 1981. During this period he travelled to various places such as Firozabad, Delhi, Madurai, Kovaipudur. Within the Employees Union, there was a growing need to represent the Bank Officers as well and this prompted the fomartion of AIBOA - All India Bank Officers' Association. This was done with the conscious decision within the AIBEA leadership. RJ Sridharan who had shown promise as Zonal Secretary, even at the young age of 38, was elected as President of AIBOA in the year 1986. In the year 1991 he was elected as General Secretary of AIBOA which was arguably the most significant office he held till his retirement from Banking service. During this time, he was also Chief of the Negotiating Team of AIBOA for Bank Officers. Additionally, he was also elected as Founder General Secretary of Canara Bank Officers’ Union in which position he excelled till the year 2006. At the time of his demise, he remained the Chairman of Canara Bank Officers’ Union.

Middle Years & PDA-Eisenmenger Syndrome In his early thirties, RJS, now an active member in the Trade Union Movement, took up residence with his family in Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu. By now he was devoting many of his hours on a daily basis to work on Trade Union matters.

Com RJS, on his own account visited several doctors during his early and mid thirties as he found himself increasingly effort intolerant. Climbing a single flight of stairs or walking greater than 100 metres would result in visibly laboured breathing. During one such visits, it was discovered that he had Pulmonary Hypertension - although the root cause was initially unknown. At a later visit to the Christian Medical College, Vellore, through an angiogram procedure, it was determined that RJS had a congenital heart condition, medically known as PDA or Patent Ductus Arteriosis resulting in an Eisenmenger's Syndrome. It is note-worthy that most people with Eisenmenger's succumb to congestive heart failure in their mid forties. While he was advised complete rest by the many cardiologists that he visited, he did not take them seriously enough to either retire from the bank or curtail his activities from the Union.

He was often referred to by his cardiologists as a Medical Miracle owing to the fact that he survived with a large PDA into his sixth decade.