Former civil servant and public activist who campaigned for clean politics and environmental issues A.K. Venkat Subramanian (69) died of heart attack in Gurgaon on Tuesday.
He is survived by his wife and two daughters.
Two weeks ago, he went to Gurgaon to visit one of his daughters. He was to return to Chennai shortly, said Lakshmi Venkat Subramanian, wife of Mr. Venkat Subramanian, adding that the cremation would take place in Gurgaon on Thursday.
A 1964-batch IAS officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre, he pioneered various innovations during his tenure as Secretary, Transport, Food and Cooperation, Planning and Development and Development Commissioner. He served as Secretary, Consumer Affairs in the Union government and worked for six months as Officer on Special Duty in the Chief Minister’s office here. He was one of the Trustees of the NGO, Catalyst Trust.
Naresh Gupta, Chief Electoral Officer, recalls that Mr. Venkat Subramanian was a votary of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. He worked zealously for generating greater awareness among voters and highlighting the presence of Rule 49-O of the Conduct of the Election Rules, 1961, under which a voter could decide not to record his or her vote.
S. Ramakrishnan, State Chief Information Commissioner and who belonged to the 1969 batch of IAS officers, says Mr. Venkat Subramanian was instrumental in convincing the Union and State governments the need for implementing the concept of citizen’s charters.
A statement issued by S. Krishnaswamy, Managing Trustee of the Catalyst Trust, stated that he was coordinating the activities of 200 Citizens Centres organised by the Trust across the State with the cooperation of the Ford Foundation. He also edited “Kudimakkal Murasu,” the Trust’s monthly magazine in Tamil.
Keywords: A.K. Venkat Subramanian, IAS, Planning and Development
