GUNTUR: Guntur-based business tycoon and social activist, P Ramachandra Raju has been unanimously elected as the vice chairman of the Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS), Andhra Pradesh State Branch. The election took place during the executive committee meeting held at the state office in Vijayawada. Raju has been serving as state unit treasurer for the past one year and was elevated to the crucial vice-president post.Raju, a well-known figure in Guntur’s social service circles, began his public life as a student union leader and went on to establish a distinct identity in community service. Over the years, he has served in multiple capacities, including vice chairman of Red Cross, Guntur district, Secretary of Tagore Memorial Trust, which manages prestigious cultural auditorium-Sri Venkateswara Vignana Mandiram, and Secretary of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Guntur.His association with the Red Cross began in 1990, when he volunteered during the devastating cyclone and floods. He officially became a Red Cross member in 1991. For more than two decades, he served on the Guntur district executive committee and has been the district vice chairman since 2016. Raju earned widespread appreciation for his leadership during the 2009 Krishna river floods, where the Red Cross organised rehabilitation centres, distributed essential supplies, and conducted medical camps across the district. His contributions gained national attention during the Covid-19 lockdown, when Guntur district Red Cross volunteers managed quarantine centres, distributed medicines, organised testing and vaccination centres, and provided essential kits to the poor. The district secured first place at the national level, earning special recognition from the then President of India. Raju also played a key role in modernising the Red Cross blood bank into an advanced component centre, establishing a dialysis centre, conducting blood donation and first-aid training camps, and expanding membership drives. For his outstanding work, Raju received the governor’s gold medal. He was appointed treasurer of the state red cross in 2024, during which he undertook major initiatives including construction of the state office building and securing land for red cross in the capital region with support from chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu and the guidance of state red cross chairman Y D Rama Rao. Speaking after his election, Raju expressed gratitude to Governor and Red Cross President Justice Abdul Nazeer and pledged to strengthen Red Cross services across the state with the cooperation of the executive committee. Red cross Guntur unit chairman and noted auditor Vadlamani Ravi, former principal Dr DAR Subramanyam, Sahiti Samkhya general secretary SVS Lakshminarayana congratulated Raju on his new role. While YD Ramarao was reelected as state chairman, AP medical council chairman, Dr Daggumati Srihari Rao was elected as treasurer of red cross state unit.
