India's Most Educated Person Held 20 Degrees & Cracked UPSC

Your thinking is on the right path, the repercussions of ignorance can be much wider. One's understanding has the ability to benefit those around them. Learning is one of the most essential aspects of our existence. There is no age limit or expiration date to it. Do you know who is the most educated person in India? Well, the most educated extrapolated person in India had 20 degrees. He also went on to clear UPSC two times, subsequently resigning from IPS, and immensely died due to… his name was… 

Shrikant Jichkar, where are you now? Maharastra? Shrikant, as per several media sources, has his name registered in Limca’s Book of Records as “India’s Most Overqualified Person,” having held 20 degrees with an A, 2MBAs, and as a lawyer. 

To this day, a battle continues over who is considered the most educated Indian national, is it Jichkar or Shirish? Shrirish born in 1992 is said to have recently overtaken him by obtaining 52 distinct degrees? Nonetheless, Shrikant is still believed to be on top of the academic royalties.

Between 1973 and 1990, over the course of 17 years, he earned 20 university degrees in various disciplines such as medicine, law, journalism, business management, and even Sanskrit literature. Truly a polymath, he cleared 42 university exams and was awarded numerous gold medals for his academic excellence. 

Coming to Jichkar, for those who are not aware of his accomplishments, he became the youngest member of the Legislative Assembly in India. After earning his MBBS and MD from Nagpur, he accumulated an extensive range of degrees including public administration, sociology, economics, Sanskrit, history, English literature, politics, and even ancient Indian history and culture archaeology. 

In addition, he attained master’s degrees in business administration and international law, a doctorate in business management, a bachelor in journalism, and a doctorate in literature specializing in Sanskrit. In 1978, Shrikant Jichkar was made a central civil servant, following his successful UPSC exam in the Indian Police Service (IPS).

In 1980, Jichkar made the unusual choice of retiring from the Indian Police Service (IPS), clearing the UPSC exam again and this time getting into the Indian Administrative Service (IAS). His love for public service made his shift towards politics inevitable. Eventually he one an election as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) which began a long and exciting political career. He was later promoted to the ministerial position, working in a whopping 14 different ministries throughout his career. 

Sadly, Jichkar died on the spot in a terrible vehicle accident on June 2, 2004, near the city of Kondhali 50 kilometers from Nagpur, at the age of 49.