Thirumanilaiyur Sitapati Ramana Subramanian (11 December 1938 – 26 February 2018) was an Indian bureaucrat who served as the cabinet secretary of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

from August 1996 to March 1998. He was a 1961 batch

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. Considered the premier civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the Indian ...

officer from

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

Cadre.

Early life and education

He was born into a middle class

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

family and had spent much of his schooling days in

Thanjavur Thanjavur (), also Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is the 11th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of South Indian religion, art, and architecture. Most of the Gr ...

Tamil nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

. Subramanian has a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

from

Calcutta University The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a public collegiate state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered one of best state research university all over India every year, C ...

, and has studied at the

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

(officially Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine). He also held a master's degree in Public Administration from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Career

Subramanian served in the

, where he held various positions including that of Cabinet Secretary (1 August 1996 to 31 March 1998), the highest post in the Indian administration and the post of Secretary in the

Ministry of Textiles The Ministry of Textiles is an Indian government national agency responsible for the formulation of policy, planning, development, export promotion and regulation of the textile industry in India. This includes all natural, artificial, and ce ...

. He was Non-Executive Director of

HCL Technologies HCLTech (formerly Hindustan Computers Limited or HCL Technologies) is an Indian multinational information technology (IT) services and consulting company headquartered in Noida.It emerged as an independent company in 1991 when HCL entered into ...

from September 1999 to November 2011. He was a founder member and former

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of the

Shiv Nadar University Shiv Nadar University (SNU)https://snu.edu.in/news/newsroom/conferred-title-shiv-nadar-institution-eminence is a private research university located on NH-91 near Dadri in Uttar Pradesh, India. SNU is regarded as Institution of Eminence ...

. He held directorships for a few companies like HCL and SABMiller. He was also Founder Chairperson, VidyaGyan Leadership Academy & Trustee, Shiv Nadar Foundation.

Remarks

On 31 October 2013, the Supreme Court's decision in T.S.R. Subramaniam v. Union of India drastically reduced political pressure on top bureaucrats by ruling that they must get an assured minimum tenure in posting. Additionally, the Court held that civil servants were not bound to follow oral directives from the Government. "Fixed tenure of bureaucrats will promote professionalism, efficiency and good governance," bench observed. "Much of the deterioration in the functioning of bureaucracy is due to political interference," the SC said. The SC also directed the Centre and state governments to pass an order within three months on giving fixed tenure to civil servants. The

PIL Public Image Ltd (abbreviated and stylized as PiL) are an English post-punk band (and incorporated limited company) formed by singer John Lydon (previously known as the singer of Sex Pistols), guitarist Keith Levene, bassist Jah Wobble, and dr ...

filed by 83 retired bureaucrats including former cabinet secretary T S R Subramanian seeking its directions for insulating bureaucracy from political interference. "This is a landmark judgement. Public servants are not private servants," Subramanian said.

Works

* ''India at Turning Point: The Road to Good Governance'' * ''GovernMint In India: An Inside View'' (2009) * ''Journeys Through Babudom and Netaland: Governance in India'' (2004)

References

External links

Shiv Nadar University official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Subramanian, TSR 1938 births 2018 deaths University of Calcutta alumni Cabinet Secretaries of India Alumni of Imperial College London Harvard Kennedy School alumni Indian Administrative Service officers People from Thanjavur