Chennai (Tamil Nadu): Eminent farm scientist M S Swaminathan was cremated here on Saturday with government honours, marked by a police gun salute. A platoon of police personnel in ceremonial attire gave a gun salute and bugle was played marking the Tamil Nadu government's honour at a crematory here.
The final rites were performed by the family members and the body was cremated at the Besant Nagar electric crematorium.
Hailed as the father of green revolution, a visionary administrator, Swaminathan (1925-2023) breathed his last at his Teynampet residence here on September 28. He was 98.
Earlier, the mortal remains of the departed soul were kept at his residence for public to pay their last respects. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, several political leaders and government officials paid their homage to the departed soul.
His body was placed at the M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) campus in Taramani. For members of the public to pay their respects from 7 am, Friday.
Chief Minister MK Stalin visited the research foundation on Friday morning and paid tributes to the departed soul. Former Chief Minister and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, and Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi, are among others who paid their respects.
Swaminathan was a qualified geneticist, who held a number of research and administrative positions in the Indian civil service. During his stint in the government, he helped introduce Mexican semidwarf wheat plants to Indian fields. He also helped to bring about greater acceptance of modern farming methods.
He also served as the director general of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research besides serving as principal secretary of the Indian ministry of agriculture and irrigation. He led the International Rice Research Institute as director general and the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources as president.
Also read: Gandhian influence and Bengal famine: The making of MS Swaminathan
