M. M. Rajendran

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.

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's experience in relief and rehabilitation stemming from his encounter with the cyclone in Dhanushkodi in 1964, helped him set up an efficient response plan to disasters. He stretched the parameters of his role as the constitutional head of the state to ensure complete rehabilitation of the state while staying within constitutional limits. His efforts which included field visits, collaboration with the government of Andhra Pradesh to enhance relief work, comprehensive planning to reconstruct the cyclone-affected areas and team building was recognized as timely and impressive. He established emergency procedures for disaster management and was responsible for having shelters built along the coastal areas of Odisha. According to DT Next, an English newspaper by Dina Thanthi, Rajendran's initiatives to put on ground disaster preparedness measures for “ cyclone management helped save thousands of lives when Cyclone Fani made landfall on May 3, 2019.”

Rajendran maintained an excellent relationship with all the three Chief Ministers with whom he worked and completed his tenure as Governor in 2004.

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 which documents his journey in fulfilling his ultimate goal of serving the nation by bringing positive changes in India after joining the Indian Administrative Service. This Memoir gives insights into the political and administrative processes that are narrated through the first-hand experiences of the author. It documents personal and political histories and recounts landmark moments in the history of Tamil Nadu, Orissa and India. Reviewing this book, Deccan Chronicle described him as a “Model Governor” who was “not just a figure head but one who could contribute to the running of the State by good and timely advice.”

He 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 Cyclones Fani in 2019 and more recently by Yaas in May 2021, hit Odisha.

Rajendran was sworn in as the Governor of Odisha in 1999 a few days after a supercyclone hit the state causing large-scale destruction.

One of the notable positions taken by Rajendran is that of the Secretary to the Government of India. He served this role in two ministries and finally retired as an IAS Officer in 1993.

On 5 February 1988, Rajendran was appointed Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu under President's rule. He was instrumental in bringing many positive changes in the state including grievance redressal mechanism, ban on smoking in public offices and enhancing state revenues. His tenure of 3 years, included one year of President's Rule and two years under an elected government, was noted for rapid industrial development, high integrity in administration and protection given to honest and efficient officers.

Rajendran became a member of the executive board of UNICEF and vice-chairman of its Program Committee. In 1981, he became Senior Advisor in UNICEF headquarters in New York and retained this position for over five years before returning to India to be appointed the Vigilance Commissioner and Commissioner for Administrative Reforms of Tamil Nadu.

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”.

M. M. Rajendran became the District Collector of Ramanathapuram at the age of 29. A landmark event that proved his resourcefulness was the cyclone that hit Dhanushkodi in 1964.  Amidst the losses, casualties and deaths, Rajendran took immediate disaster management measures that ensured that the victims were fed and sheltered until their rehabilitation was completed. Impressed by his administrative prowess, he was given charge of a bigger and problematic district, Tirunelveli, where he was for 3 .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}1⁄2 years spread equally under Congress and DMK Governments. His objectivity and apolitical approach were established when under Congress government, he redressed the grievances of M. Karunanidhi who was in jail at the time. Notwithstanding his closeness to K. Kamaraj, his career with the opposition DMK was smooth. Rajendran had made many innovative changes in the district administration, endearing him to the people. At the time of Pakistani aggression in 1965, he established a Jawan's Welfare Committee to address the problems faced by the families of Jawans – this was chaired by Susheela Rajendran, his wife, who later received a commendation from the Chief Minister for her work.

In 1961 and 1963, Rajendran was appointed the Assistant Commissioner/Commissioner-in-charge in Chennai Corporation and Commissioner of Stationery and Printing. His responsibilities included the decentralization of civic administration. He took the initiative to establish Regional Presses which improved efficiency besides providing many new job opportunities.

Following his IAS training, Rajendran was posted as Assistant Collector in Thanjavur to undergo training in administrative work. On the successful completion of his training in March 1959, he was appointed Sub Collector at Sivakasi, which was the Constituency of the then Chief Minister K. Kamaraj.

In 1959, Rajendran was posted as the Under Secretary in the Department of Rural Development which was directly under the Chief Minister. After a few months, he moved to Public Department, also under the Chief Minister. Presented with many challenges during this period, Rajendran showed his merit by dealing with them successfully.

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.

Moberly Manoah Rajendran (born 12 April 1935) was topper of 1957 IAS batch and later became Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu and Governor of Odisha. Earlier he was a member of the UNICEF 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.

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.