M. M. Rajendran

Equipped to begin his elementary education after being trained by his mother, Rajendran was admitted to the first standard in a locally run school at Paramakudi in Tamil Nadu, at the age of four. On realizing that Rajendran's teacher, who ignored him in class, was partial to a group of students who were privately tutored by her, Mrs. Moberly decided to homeschool her son owing to the absence of any other schools in their village. Three years under the guidance of his mother made Rajendran qualified enough to be admitted to the fifth standard at the age of seven in Devakottai, a larger town to which Dr. Moberly was transferred. In the years that followed, Rajendran changed schools multiple times as his family moved from one town or village to another as a result of his father's job.

He completed his SSLC Public Examination from a municipality-run school in Mayavaram (presently known as Mayiladuthurai) by becoming the top scorer of the institution. A new mandate by the government specifying the minimum age limit to enroll in a college prevented Rajendran from joining college, as he was younger than the announced age limit by a few months. In the year that he had to wait to become eligible for college admission, he worked on taking courses in shorthand, typewriting and Hindi, in addition to expanding his knowledge repository by utilizing the local library in Nagapattinam which was his family's new home.[6]

M. M. Rajendran circa 1960

Rajendran underwent his collegiate education at Madras Christian College (MCC) in Chennai for five years, first two years as an Intermediate student and then in the Honours (Masters) Programme in Physics which spanned three years. During his fourth year at his college hostel, St. Thomas Hall, Rajendran was elected as the Minister for Indoor Games, a position of responsibility.

Rajendran was a stellar student who not only won many prizes in MCC but also was ranked first in the final examination of his Honours degree program conducted by the University of Madras, inviting fame and recognition to his alma mater. He was awarded two gold medals by the University of Madras of which one was the prestigious Jagirdar of Arni Gold Medal that was earlier received by the Nobel Laureate C. V. Raman. Rajendran was also offered a scholarship to pursue research in Theoretical Physics at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai, which he politely declined, to focus on his dream as an IAS aspirant.[6]

Rajendran worked as a demonstrator in Physics at MCC to facilitate his preparation for the Indian Administrative Service examination. He chose this over the position of a lecturer as this gave him more time to prepare for IAS. He was also in charge of hostel discipline and had to monitor the students staying in Selaiyur Hall. The resources provided by the college library and the faculty of the institutional departments aided him in his preparation for IAS. His hard work became fruitful when he emerged as the topper in the IAS examination.

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 with Queen Elizabeth II and the Former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, K. Kamaraj in 1961

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.

M. M. Rajendran, former Governor of Odisha and his wife, Susheela Rajendran

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 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.

As Labour Commissioner, he had to tackle many serious problems in Industrial Relations caused by the change of government with many labour unions affiliated with one party or the other. Major industries including “The Hindu” were remaining closed for more than 100 days because of industrial unrest.

Rajendran gave high priority to resolving the outstanding issues through the conciliation process resulting in the reopening of all of them. He was instrumental in setting up Labour Welfare Board and the Institute of Labour Studies.

As Secretary to Government in Departments like Social Welfare, Labour & Employment, Rural and Urban Development and Public Works including irrigation and power, he advised the government in new policy development and in monitoring implementation of programmes. Cauvery waters issue cropped up during his tenure in the latter department for which Rajendran helped in developing a strategy.

Both were large undertakings of the State Government. He streamlined procedures in the Housing Board in plots/house allotment and in building construction to prevent malpractices. Electricity Board was in shambles with rampant power cuts due as much to insufficiency of power generation as poor maintenance of distribution network. He succeeded in upgrading both and in improving the chaotic Human Resources practices in the Board, having almost 100,000 employees.

Of the many roles embraced by M. M. Rajendran during his career, his initiatives as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Education and Social Welfare specializing in Nutrition and Child Development gave him global recognition. He authored the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme which received national and international recognition.

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.[1]

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.

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.

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

M. M. Rajendran and Susheela Rajendran with former Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee

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.”[7]

Rajendran's contribution to the development of Higher Education, particularly in upgrading the Universities, making use of the independence the Orissa Universities Act it gave to the Governor as Chancellor in administering Universities was noteworthy and came for praise from the academic community. Upgrading of syllabi, tightening up regulations governing award of Ph.D., protection of Universities from political interference and merit-based appointment of Vice Chancellors and faculty were hailed by Dr Harii Gautam, the then Chairman of University Grants Commission as momentous steps in University administration.

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