NEW YORK: Rajendra Shukla, owner and President of Reliable Silver of Naugatuck, Connecticut, former President of the Federation of Indian Associations of the Tri-State Area, Founding trustee and former Chairman of India Cultural Society of NJ, Mahatma Gandhi Center and Hindu Temple, devoted member of Brahmin Samaj of USA and Board of director of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan USA and an individual well-known for his contributions to social causes, died at home on February 24.

He was 69 and lived in Weston, Connecticut.After immigrating to the United States in 1961 from Halvad, a small village in Gujarat, Shukla completed his MBA at Fairleigh Dickinson, and later became a successful entrepreneur. He eventually owned and ran his own company, Reliable Corporation, which specializes in the production of precious metals for refining and industrial purposes.

Shukla viewed his success in the business world as an opportunity to assist others in need. Most recently, he set up a scholarship for public high school students in Waterbury,Connecticut who wish to attend college, as well as a fund to support the activities of a local soup kitchens and food banks in the same area.Shukla sustained a lifelong interest and active participation in Indian-American affairs as trustee of the Mahatma Gandhi Center, India Cultural Society of New Jersey, and his involvement with the Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan, an Institute of Indian cultural in Manhattan.

He has frequently been recognized for his many contributions to the Indian community and to society at large. He was also honored for his leadership in the Indian community by the Governor of Connecticut in 2007, and bestowed the Dr. Martin Luther King Presidential Award of 2008 in Nassau County, Long Island, for "compassion and outstanding contributions to humanity".As one of a small number of Indian immigrants to arrive to the United States prior to the 1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act, Shukla served as one of the founding pillars of the growing Indian community in this country.

He traveled with his family throughout the country to perform Hindu religious ceremonies as a Brahmanical priest when there were few others available to provide these services.Shukla is survived by his wife 42 years, Ranjana, daughter Sandhya and her husband Thomas Klubock of New York, daughter Shobhna and her husband Matthew Ginsburg of Chicago, Illinois, and two grandsons, Kiran and Anand.