KL Shroff’s social commitments set him apart from his contemporaries: Vinod Rajpal of AIFMP

PWI: According to you, what are the prominent contributions of KL Shroff?

Vinod Rajpal (VR): Born in an average family at Chineot (Pakistan) on 23 July 1937, KL Shroff did civil engineering and served CPWD for eight years. In 1968, he started Allied Enterprises as a supplier of printing material, but to utilise his technical knowledge, he established Nutech Photolithographers. As luck favoured him, his honesty and hard work resulted in addition of several offset printing machines within next six years of operations. In quick succession, he launched two more big units – Nutech Packaging and Nutech Security Printers – providing employment to over 1,000 persons. Due to its commitment and to quality, Nutech Photolithographers bagged several national awards.

KL Shroff’s contribution to the industry got a fillip when he was elected as the president of Delhi Printers’ Association (DPA) for the term 1983-84 and president of All India Federation of Master Printers for two terms - 1988-89 and 1992-93. He served as chairman of AIFMP’s Standing Committee on Import and Export for 1989-90, 1990-91 and 1991-92 as well as co-chairman of Pamex 1983 and 21st All India Printers Conference.

In 1988, he inaugurated DPA’s Technical Training Centre where over 1,400 students attended courses in DTP, laser printing, scanning and screenprinting. His contribution to the printing industry as president of DPA and AIFMP has been noteworthy; especially, as the chairman of the import and export committee.

PWI: What sets his tenure apart from his contemporaries?

VR: His social commitments set him apart from his contemporaries in the printing industry. He also served as district governor of Lions Club and worked as a front-runner in several philanthropic projects. His ardent devotion to social work saw him, along with his wife, donate blood 35 times. He used to proudly say that no unit of his blood had been given to any of his known persons. Till he breathed his last, he continued to help poor and needy children in getting proper education.

PWI: One incident that you shared with him that you will cherish for the rest of your life... 

VR: The incident that I cherish about Shroff is related to his long career about which he once proudly stated that “my transformation from an engineer handling cement, sand, bricks and steel to printing ink, paper, cardboard boxes and printing machines is worth noting!”