THOUSANDS of people from ethnic minorities in Oxfordshire will have cause to be grateful to Shaila Srinivasan, who died earlier this week, aged 59, after a short illness.

Dr Srinivasan was born into an academic family in Kerala, India, but grew up in Delhi. She went to Delhi University where she graduated and became a lecturer.

During the 1980s she held various positions culminating in that of head of the sociology department (which she founded) in a constituent college of Delhi University.

She arrived in Oxford in 1988 to study for her doctorate in sociology and her research into the growth of South Asian businesses in Oxford resulted in her influential book, The South Asian Petty Bourgeoisie in Britain: An Oxford Case Study.

After completing her PhD at Nuffield College, she then made it her life’s work to help people from ethnic minorities to adapt to life in Oxfordshire.

She took over the Oxfordshire Ethnic Minority Business Service (EMBS) in 1993, working with minimal funding as the only permanent member of staff out of a small office in Cave Street.

The EMBS had been set up in 1989. When she took over she was told there was only money enough for her to work for one year.

Since then EMBS has grown enormously. It now has 20 staff providing language and skills training to improve students’ access to the labour market or start their own businesses.

Dr Srinivasan was instrumental in expanding this business by helping establish partnerships with other bodies including, among others, Refugee Resource, Oxford and Cherwell Valley College, Oxford Brookes University and Adult Learning.

Dr Srinivasan’s work over 16 years was rewarded when Ofsted rated EMBS outstandoing across the board.

This was followed in 2010 by being awarded Beacon status — one of only 12 adult education centres across England to receive the award that year.

She leaves one son, Rahul.