Jetti A. Oliver

Oliver was born in Raigudem village of Khammam district in Telangana, India. He obtained his doctorate in development economics from Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University in 1970.{{cite web|url=http://www.bapatla70.com/ |title=Bapatla agriculture college |publisher=Bapatla70.com |date= |access-date=2013-08-06}}

In 1974, Oliver headed the Rural Agricultural and Gramodyog Development Society in Khammam,{{Cite web | title=Directory of Voluntary Action | publisher=Association of Voluntary Agencies for Rural Development | location=New Delhi | year=1979 | page=6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lN_ZAAAAMAAJ&q=khammam+jetti}} which was involved in improving quality of life among the rural folk.{{Cite web | title=Science and Technology for Women: A Compendium of Technologies | publisher=Department of Science and Technology | location=New Delhi | year=1982 | page=76 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OVF9UuwVZTYC&q=khammam}} During the next decade, Oliver moved over to Hyderabad and was leading the Centre for Promoters of Rural Development (CPRD){{Cite web | title=The State Against People?: A Discussion on Authoritarianism and Militarization in India | publisher=Ecumenical Christian Centre | location=Bangalore | year=1982 | page=95 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IzcmAAAAMAAJ&q=dr.j.a.oliver+hyderabad}} and was also associated with the Andhra Pradesh Voluntary Health Association.

As an academic, Oliver has been a member of the fully ecumenical, Church History Association of India (CHAI), Bangalore,{{cite web|url=http://churchhistory.in/ |title=Church History Association of India |publisher=Churchhistory.in |date= |access-date=2013-08-06}}{{cite web|url=http://www.chai-online.net/ |title=The Church History Association of India - CHAI |publisher=Chai-online.net |date= |access-date=2013-08-06}} where he has been providing the required support for conduction of the regional meetings of the CHAI since the 1980s,{{Cite web | title=Indian Church History Review | volume=22 | publisher=Church History Association of India | year=1982 | page=150 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tMXYAAAAMAAJ&q=dr.j.a.oliver+hyderabad}} espousing the cause of scholarly spirit among the Church historians in the study of History of Christianity and the emergence of the Church as an academic discipline.

Oliver has been espousing the cause of Telugu literature, as chairperson of the Telugu Theological Literature Board (TTLB), which has been in the forefront of publishing the Telugu Bible Dictionary{{Cite web | title=Telugu Bible Dictionary | publisher=Christian Literature Service | location=Madras | year=1923 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7mumGwAACAAJ&q=telugu+bible+dictionary}} since many decades.{{cite web|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andhrapradesh/devotional-book-released/article674898.ece?textsize=large&test=1 |title=Devotional book released |work=The Hindu |date=2010-01-01 |access-date=2013-08-06}} Also, as state representative of the National Council of Churches in India (NCCI),{{cite web|url=http://www.hindu.com/2009/04/23/stories/2009042359760500.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090426160441/http://www.hindu.com/2009/04/23/stories/2009042359760500.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=2009-04-26 |title=Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Christian body seeks ban on film |date=2009-04-23 |work=The Hindu |access-date=2013-08-06}}{{cite web|url=http://shop.christianeducation.org.uk/about-ibra/ |title=IBRA - Christian Education |publisher=Shop.christianeducation.org.uk |date= |access-date=2013-08-06}}{{cite web |url=http://www.indianchristianity.com/ |title=Home |website=indianchristianity.com}}{{cite web| url = http://newindianexpress.com/cities/hyderabad/Government-urged-to-protect-church-assets/2013/09/16/article1786705.ece| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140311022506/http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/hyderabad/Government-urged-to-protect-church-assets/2013/09/16/article1786705.ece| url-status = dead| archive-date = 11 March 2014| title = Government urged to protect church assets- The New Indian Express}} he is involved in overseeing the translation of a Daily Bible Reading book published by the International Bible Reading Association from English into Telugu by taking the assistance of Theologians who include the Systematic Theologian B. J. Christie Kumar, STBC,{{Cite journal | author=B. J. Christie Kumar | title=An Indian Appreciation of the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit: A Search into the Religious Heritage of the Indian Christian | journal=Indian Journal of Theology | volume=30 | year=1981 | pages=29–35 | url=https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/ijt/30-1_029.pdf}} the Christian educator, Johanna Rose Ratnavathi, AELC{{Cite book | author=Bhagvan Das | editor=James Massey| title=Dalit Solidarity | publisher=ISPCK | location=New Delhi| year=1995 | page=217 | isbn=978-81-7214-249-0| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zwRuAAAAMAAJ&q=Mrs.ratnavathi+babu+rao}} among others, which helps in Bible reading among the faithful by providing the devotional in Telugu language .

As a promoter of the Telugu Bible, Oliver has also been in the leadership of the Bible Society of India Andhra Pradesh Auxiliary from the time when the Auxiliary was led by The Rev. Lella Prakasam, CBCNC and after its bifurcation in 2016, he continues to be associated with the Bible Society of India Telangana Auxiliary headquartered in Secunderabad.{{Cite journal | author=B. Samuel Rajashekar | title=Bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh Auxiliary | journal=Sowing Circle | volume=32 | issue=2 | date=May–August 2016 | page=34 | url=http://www.bsind.org/pdf/Sowing%20Circle%2032-2%20%20Updated%20on%2021-12-2016%20s.pdf}}

Since the beginning of the 1980s, Oliver had been in the forefront of Interfaith dialogue and promotion of communal amity. In 1986,{{Cite web | title=The Bulletin of the Henry Martyn Institute of Islamic Studies | volume=9-10 | year=1986 | pages=84, 92 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-QgqAQAAMAAJ&q=oliver}} Oliver spoke on the Role of Church in peace making conducted by the Henry Martyn Institute for Islamic Studies, Hyderabad during the tenure of its Director Sam V. Bhajjan, which was well attended by Religious scholars of diverse faiths from the notable Universities in the country. When the 1990 Hyderabad riots occurred during the tenure of then Chief Minister, Marri Chenna Reddy, Oliver as a Citizen of Hyderabad interacted with the religious heads of different faith traditions and led a peace march around Clock Tower, Secunderabad together with a Pujari, Imam, Jathedar, Bhikkhu, Jain monk, and a Catholic Priest, all of whom held hands and walked side by side as a show of togetherness in the presence of the Hyderabadi Historian Vasant K. Bawa.[http://www.bawa-hyderabad.org/ Vasant K. Bawa]

In fostering ecumenism and unity among the Churches, Oliver has made his contribution through the regional{{cite web|author=Special Correspondent |url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andhrapradesh/churches-council-supports-bill/article2278754.ece |title=Churches Council supports bill |work=The Hindu |date=2011-07-21 |access-date=2013-08-06}}{{cite web|url=http://www.nccindia.in/ncci/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=100:regional-christian-councils&catid=78:general&Itemid=508 |title=Regional Christian Councils |publisher=Nccindia.in |date= |access-date=2013-08-06}} Councils of Churches which are affiliated to the National Council of Churches in India, Nagpur and was also its vice-president in the 1990s and had made immense contribution to the revision of the Constitution of the NCCI.{{Cite web | title=e-STREE | publisher=All India Council for Christian Women | date=September 2014 | url=http://ncci1914.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/e-stree-sept2014-.pdf}}

Oliver was honorary secretary of the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Council of Churches and used to maintain brotherly relations with the Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant and the New and Indigenous Churches and liaised with Archbishops S. Arulappa{{Cite journal | title=Arulappa's services will be remembered | journal=The Hindu | year=2005 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160123044558/http://www.thehindu.com/2005/02/14/stories/2005021407770500.htm | url=http://www.thehindu.com/2005/02/14/stories/2005021407770500.htm | archive-date=2016-01-23}} followed by M. Joji. Keeping doctrinal differences aside, during the tenure of Oliver, many small and indigenous Churches were welcomed into the fold of the Council of Churches, including the Good Samaritan Evangelical Lutheran Church,{{Cite book | author=Hugald Grafe | title=Kirche unter Dalits, Adivasi und Kastenleuten in Südindien: die indischen Partnerkirchen der lutherischen Kirchen in Niedersachsen | publisher=LIT Verlag | location=Berlin | year=2013 | page=236 | isbn=978-3-643-12098-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RHN8KrEGB1QC&dq=dr.j.a.oliver+hyderabad&pg=PA236}} and Oliver also participated in a central committee meeting of the World Council of Churches in 1992.{{Cite web | title=Minutes of the 43rd meeting of the Central Committee | volume=43-45 | year=1992 | page=155 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WtwkAQAAIAAJ&q=dr.jetti+oliver}}

The Protestant Regional Theologiate in Secunderabad is affiliated to India's first{{Cite web| author=Sankar Ray | publisher=The Hindu (Business Line) | date=11 April 2008 | title=Almost a century later, the charter was endorsed officially under the Bengal Govt Act IV of 1918 | url=http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/life/2008/04/11/stories/2008041150100400.htm}} University, the Senate of Serampore College (University) {a University under Section 2 (f) of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956}{{Cite web | quote=The Senate of Serampore College (University) is a University within the meaning of Section 2 (f) of the UGC Act, 1956 under which a University means a University established or incorporated by or under a Central Act, a Provincial Act or a State Act, and includes any such institution as may, in consultation with the University concerned, be recoginsed by the Commission in accordance with the regulations made in this behalf under this Act. The UGC took the opinion that the Senate fell under the purview of Section 2 (f) of the said Act since The Serampore College Act, 1918 was passed by the Government of West Bengal | title=University Grants Commission and Serampore College (University) | url=http://www.senateofseramporecollege.edu.in/history/u-g-c-and-serampore-college/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170612143603/http://www.senateofseramporecollege.edu.in/history/u-g-c-and-serampore-college/ | archive-date=12 June 2017 }}with degree-granting authority validated by a Danish Charter and ratified by the Government of West Bengal. Oliver represented the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Council of Churches in the board of governors of the near-ecumenical Protestant Regional Theologiate, the Andhra Christian Theological College, Secunderabad comprising some of the Protestant Church Societies – the Methodists, Lutherans, Baptists, and the Anglicans, Congregationalists and the Wesleyan Methodists from the time when the Theologiate was led by The Rev. S. Joseph, STBC followed by The Rev. M. Victor Paul, AELC, The Rev. R. Yesurathnam, CSI and the successive Principalships.

• 1992 (with T. D. J. Nagabhushanam)- Sustainable Agriculture, its problems and prospects,{{Cite journal | author1=J. A. Oliver | author2=T. D. J. Nagabhushanam | title=Sustainable Agriculture, its problems and prospects | journal=Proceedings of the National Seminar on Sustainable Agricultural Development | date=September 12, 1991 | publisher=Gloria Land, Pondicherry, Voluntary Health Association of India | pages=81–ff | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WyZIAAAAYAAJ&q=nagabhushanam}}
• 2000 - Recolonisation, Globalisation and the Role of the Church.{{Cite journal | author=J. A. Oliver | title=Recolonisation, Globalisation and the Role of the Church | journal=National Council of Churches Review | volume=118 | year=2000 | pages=334–339 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AiXZAAAAMAAJ&q=force+or+a+farce}} - this writing was also referred to by the Social ethics Scholar, I. John Mohan Razu.{{Cite web | author1=I. John Mohan Razu | editor=P. Moses Paul Peter | title=Dialogue on globalisation | publisher=Student Christian Movement of India | location=Bangalore | year=2000 | page=57 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PDOFAAAAIAAJ&q=jetti+a.oliver}}

• Prof. Dr. M. Abel, Ph. D. (California),
• Prof. Dr. T. D. J. Nagabhushanam, Ph. D. (IARI),
• Prof. Dr. P. A. James, Ph. D. (Osmania),
• Prof. Dr. B. E. Vijayam, Ph. D. (Osmania)
• Prof. Dr. P. Judson, Ph. D. (Osmania)

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Category:Living people

Category:Telugu people

Category:Indian Christians

Category:Affiliated institutions of the National Council of Churches in India

Category:Church of South India

Category:20th-century Indian economists

Category:Indian agriculturalists

Category:Scientists from Andhra Pradesh

Category:21st-century Indian farmers

Category:1931 births