Payoshi Bisht, Pune
India’s renowned agricultural scientist, Mankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan, who played a lead role in revolutionizing and modernizing the farming sector in the 1960s passed away on Thursday morning at his Chennai residence. The cause of the demise is known to be an age-related illness. He is survived by three daughters.
Revered as the ‘Father of India’s Green Revolution’, he achieved many milestones in his academic career such as researching and developing high-yielding varieties of paddy which resulted in maximum production by the low-paid farmers of the country. Swaminathan was named as ‘chair’ of the National Commision on Farmers in 2004, which was set up to investigate farmer’s plights and problems due to the rising cases of suicides being committed. The panel issued its findings in 2006 and recommended, among other things, that the Minimum Selling Price (MSP) be at least 50% higher than the weighted average cost of production.
Between 1961 to 72, he served as Director of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute and as the Director General of ICAR and Secretary to the Government of India, Department of Agricultural Research and Education from 1972 to 79. He was also appointed as the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture from 1979 to 80 as well as Acting Deputy Chairman and later Member (Science and Agriculture) in the Planning Commission from 1980 to 82. Among his achievements, he received the inaugural World Food Prize in 1987 after which he established the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) at Taramani, Chennai.
Swaminathan has also been awarded the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Vibhushan. He has also received the H K Firodia Award, the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award, and the Indira Gandhi Prize, in addition to various foreign honors such as the Ramon Magsaysay Award in the year 1971 and the Albert Einstein World Science Award in 1986.
Famous personalities and leaders including PM Narendra Modi, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan as well as Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar have offered their condolences to the grieving family as the nation mourns the loss of a great scientist. As per the reports, the last rites would be performed on Sunday.