Veteran sports organiser, secretary of Nagpur Sharirik Shikshan Mandal, and an official of Maharashtra Atyapatya Mahamandal Arun Dinkarrao Gadkari passed away on Saturday. He was 81 and survived by wife and host of relatives to mourn the loss. The last rites were performed on the same day.
Gadkari had taken the charge as a joint director of the Department of Sports and Physical Education of RTM Nagpur University on July 19, 1973. Prior to that he was a physical education teacher at SB City Mahavidyalaya. For more than decade, he was lecturer at Post Graduate department of physical education at Nagpur University. During his tenure as a joint director, he hosted All India Inter-University Handball and Chess Championships. While holding the post as joint director for 27 years he successfully hosted various sporting events including kabaddi, table tennis, kho kho, badminton, chess, hockey, football, swimming cross country etc. He also played an important role in hosting Ashwamedh in 1999. Prominent sports personalities of the city paid tributes to the departed soul.