M. M. Rajendran

Moberly Manoah Rajendran (12 April 1935 – 23 December 2023) was an Indian IAS officer who became Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu and Governor of Odisha. Earlier he was a member of UNICEF's executive board and vice chairman of its program committee at New York. He was sponsored by a Tamil Nadu-based political party for the post of President of India in 2012. alt=M. M. Rajendran at an event with the then Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee M. M. Rajendran at an event with the then Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Rajendran took over as Governor of Odisha in 1999 soon after the State was hit by a super cyclone of unprecedented severity and was given the mandate by the prime minister to guide the State Government in its relief and rehabilitation work which earned the praise of the people of Odisha and the prime minister, who recognising his leadership, dissolved the Central Cabinet Committee earlier set up by him to coordinate the relief work. Realising that most of the 10,000 lives lost in the coastal areas could have been saved if only there were good shelters along the coast, he was instrumental in getting shelters built all along the coast, with the help of organizations such as German Red Cross, Ramakrishna Mission, Syrian church and many more and emergency procedures with community participation in Disaster Relief put in place when he was Governor of Odisha. These measures, followed by the State even after his departure, were of immense benefit to the people of Odisha in subsequent natural calamities, exemplified by the thousands of lives saved when Cyclone Fani in 2019 and more recently Yaas in May 2021, hit Odisha.

Recipient of several Lifetime Achievement Awards including the Mahatma Gandhi Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2019 from the Gandhi World Foundation celebrating 150 years of the Mahatma. He was also conferred the Honorary Lifetime Membership of the Rotary International in 2001. Rajendran died on 23 December 2023, at the age of 88.

Early life Rajendran was born on 12 April 1935 into a Protestant Tamil Christian family. His father, Dr. Arumainayagam Moberly, worked for the Government of Madras Presidency as a veterinary surgeon while his mother, Rajammal Moberly, was a trained teacher. Dr. Moberly's job entailed frequent transfers across the Madras presidency. Having been brought up primarily in rural areas, Rajendran's formative years shaped his flair for rural development, a niche in which he would hone his skills later in his career. His consistently excellent academic performance was initiated under the tutelage of his mother who resigned from her job at a school in Madurai following her marriage.

Education

Elementary and secondary education Equipped to begin his elementary education after being trained by his mother, Rajendran was admitted to the first standard in a locally run school at Paramakudi in Tamil Nadu, at the age of four. On realizing that Rajendran's teacher, who ignored him in class, was partial to a group of students who were privately tutored by her, Mrs. Moberly decided to homeschool her son owing to the absence of any other schools in their village. Three years under the guidance of his mother made Rajendran qualified enough to be admitted to the fifth standard at the age of seven in Devakottai, a larger town to which Dr. Moberly was transferred. In the years that followed, Rajendran changed schools multiple times as his family moved from one town or village to another as a result of his father's job.

Rajendran completed his SSLC Public Examination from a municipality-run school in Mayavaram (presently known as Mayiladuthurai) by becoming the top scorer of the institution. A new mandate by the government specifying the minimum age limit to enroll in a college prevented Rajendran from joining college, as he was younger than the announced age limit by a few months. In the year that he had to wait to become eligible for college admission, he worked on taking courses in shorthand, typewriting and Hindi, in addition to expanding his knowledge repository by utilizing the local library in Nagapattinam which was his family's new home.

Rajendran's contribution to the development of higher education, particularly in upgrading the Universities, making use of the independence the Orissa Universities Act it gave to the governor as chancellor in administering universities was noteworthy and came for praise from the academic community. Upgrading of syllabi, tightening up regulations governing award of Ph.D., protection of universities from political interference and merit-based appointment of vice chancellors and faculty were hailed by Dr Harii Gautam, the then chairman of University Grants Commission as momentous steps in University administration.

Rajendran maintained an excellent relationship with all the three chief ministers with whom he worked and completed his tenure as governor in 2004.

Personal life M. M. Rajendran married Susheela Devapragasam on October 21, 1959. They have two sons, one daughter and seven grandchildren. Their daughter, Suma married Dr. David Jayakar, M.D on May 28, 1990. David and Suma have two children, Sujay Jayakar and Stephen Jayakar.alt=Service Uninterrupted: Memoirs of M. M. Rajendran Cover Image

Literary works In 1980, he edited the book “Profile of Child in India” published by UNICEF. Papers presented by him in International Conferences on “Integrated Approach to Child Development” in Alma Ata, USSR and “Innovative approaches to meet basic needs of the young child in Developing Countries” in Athens were well received and published in international journals. In 1979 UNICEF published the book “Child Welfare Services in China” based on his visit to China on an invitation from Chinese government. His Report on “Production and Marketing of Infant Foods” published by Government of India in 1981 led to the adoption of the “Indian National Code for protection and promotion of Breast Feeding”.

Rajendran published two books in 2003 and 2004 titled "Let Us Make Things Happen: A Collection of Speeches" and "Opportunities Unbound: A Collection of Speeches" respectively, which are compilations of important speeches that he had delivered on various occasions. In 2020, he published his memoir Service Uninterrupted: Memoirs of M. M. Rajendran M.M. Rajendran's memoir, Manam Niraintha Makkal Sevai, being launched by R.N. Ravi, Governor of Tamil Nadu at Raj Bhavan, Chennai. The dignitaries onstage (from left) are Suma Jayakar, Director of South Asian Initiatives, LeTourneau University and daughter of M.M. Rajendran; N. Ram, Director, The Hindu Publishing Group; M.M. Rajendran; R.N. Ravi, the Governor of Tamil Nadu; Shaktikanta Das, the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India; and Justice T. N. Vallinayagam, Former Judge, Madras High Court. In September 2022, the Tamil edition of Service Uninterrupted: Memoirs of M. M. Rajendran titled Manam Niraintha Makkal Sevai was released. The book was launched by the governor of Tamil Nadu, R. N. Ravi, at Raj Bhavan, Chennai, in the presence of several dignitaries including the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, the director of The Hindu newspaper and a former judge of the Madras High Court. M. M. Rajendran's daughter, Suma Jayakar, was also present during the book launch.