Professor M.G.K. Menon, better known as MGK or Goku, who passed away on Tuesday, was a multi-splendoured person.
Scientist, S&T policy-maker, scholar, parliamentarian, Cabinet Minister and a humanist of rare elegance — he has been described as one of India’s most eminent “statesmen of science”.
Awarded a Ph.D. at a relatively young age of 25 by the University of Bristol, U.K. in 1953, he joined the TIFR in 1955 at the invitation of Homi Bhabha. This marked the beginning of the extraordinary MGK trajectory. It commenced with his appointment as TIFR Director in 1966 after his mentor’s untimely death in an air crash. (Menon was not yet 38 years old at the time.) In 1971, he made the transition to Delhi when he was appointed Secretary in the Department of Electronics and for two decades plus, he was the veritable ‘vamana’ of Indian science and technology policy-making. The number of responsibilities that devolved upon him (thanks to the implicit confidence reposed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi) were quite dizzying.
With the death of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai in 1971, he was given additional charge as Chairman of ISRO and the Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad. This was over and above TIFR and Electronics.
To his credit, his ability to spot talent and entrust it with responsibility was borne out in the manner in which he enabled the appointment of Professor Satish Dhawan, then at the IISc, to the Chairmanship of ISRO. Subsequently he was appointed Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister in 1974 and concurrently looked after the DRDO. In 1978 he was appointed Secretary, Department of Science and Technology and Director-General of the CSIR. Then followed a stint as Secretary, Department of Environment, where he saved the ‘Silent Valley’ in Kerala; Chairman, SAC, to the Cabinet; Member, Planning Commission for seven years till 1989; SA to PM Rajiv Gandhi for three years till 1989; a Minister of State in the short-lived V.P. Singh Cabinet; and a Rajya Sabha member from 1990 to 1996.
His foot-print extended from his own personal discipline of physics to electronics, space and defence-related S&T issues and he was one of the most versatile architects of India’s scientific and technological endeavour. He had the rare distinction of having held the position of president of the three major academies of science — the Indian Academy of Sciences; Indian National Science Academy; and National Academy of Sciences, India. Respected internationally for his academic accomplishments and policy-making role, he was also a Founding Fellow of the Third World Academy of Sciences, Trieste, Italy.
My personal association with Prof. MGK began at the India International Centre (where he was president) when I was studying India’s nuclear policy-making and he was a veritable vault of information, sharing forgotten nuggets about personalities in the decision-making loop.
He of the ‘mellifluous voice’ was eloquent and elegant in his choice of word and phrase — always delivered softly but with persuasiveness and panache.
I had the privilege of working with him at the IIC during his second term as president and his humanist values and sensibilities came to the fore at the centre. Goku-sir used to dwell at length on what he called the “IIC spirit and temperament” and in his gentle and understated manner, was anguished at what can only be characterised as a general lowering of the benchmark of rectitude, civility and self-restraint.
His attention to detail was legendary and included carefully reading the personal profile of every potential member of the IIC!
RIP Goku-sir.
(The writer is Director, Society for Policy Studies, New Delhi)
