Why did Mr Subramanian Lakshminarayanan the 1970-batch IAS officer, decide to donate all his money to Ram Janmabhoomi Temple Trust to make a Golden Ramayana? Actually, he comes from a family of devout bureaucrats. His father L Subramanian too was an IAS and secretary to the Government of India. He was named Lakshminarayanan by his mother also named Lakshmi, who treated him as a blessing of Lord Lakshmi Narayan (of Birla Temple), Delhi.
His colleagues and friends in Madhya Pradesh term him as a devout and highly religious person who was an ardent disciple of them Shankaracharya of Kanchi Kamkoti Peetham, Chandrashekharendra Saraswati Swamigal and his successor Swami Jayendra Saraswati. “Whenever the Shankaracharya visited Bhopal, Lakshminarayanan used to be in his service. They often visited his residence where I too met the holy saint”, says KS Sharma, the 1964-batch IAS who served as Chief Secretary of M.P. in 1996-1998. Mr Lakshminarayanan was Principal Secretary, Mining, at that time. He used to be a very efficient and honest officer, recalled Mr Sharma.
He is also an ardent follower of Sringeri Shankaracharya Peetham, being the chairman of its temple in Vasant Vihar for past 25 years. He is also Chairman of Shri Kamakshi temple – affiliated to Kanchi Kamkoti Peetham, opposite JNU, in Delhi for past 25 years. He is on the Board of Directors of Lilawati Hospital, Mumbai for over 10 years.
Mr Lakshminarayanan has been on board of several companies listed in various stock exchanges. He has been drawing salaries and/or perk from some of them. “One of them has given me a chauffeur-driven car. Besides, I am getting over Rs 1.5 lakh pension. All of this too much for me – a teetotaler, non-smoker and pure vegetarian Tamil Brahmin. That’s why, I decided to surrender everything to the Supreme Creator”, he told Indian Masterminds.
Mr Lakshminarayanan served in many departments in Madhya Pradesh like public relations, education and mining besides holding important assignments at the centre like Secretary of Inter-State Council. He was tipped to be appointed as Central Election Commissioner after the retirement of CEC Mr BB Tandon in 2006. Mr N Gopalaswami, a 1964-batch IAS had been elevated as the CEC in place of Tandon and Mr Navin Chawla, a 1969-batch IAS officer, had been appointed as Election Commissioner by the then UPA Government overlooking Mr. Lakshminarayanan. The latter was honoured with Bharat Gaurav Award at the French Senate in July 23, 2022.
“His batchmates included former NHAI Chairman Late L.K. Joshi, Vijay Singh, Shankar Narayanan and Ajit Jogi, who resigned from IAS to become Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh. Lakshminarayanan was considered a close confidant of then Chief Minister Mr Arjun Singh and served as Director Public Relations in 1984”, veteran journalist Mr NK Singh told Indian Masterminds from Bhopal.
Incidentally, Bhopal witnessed worst man-made tragedy on the night of December 2, 1984 when highly poisonous Methyl Iso-Cynate (MIC) gas leaked from the Union Carbide plant killing hundreds and crippling thousands for life. That could have been a PR disaster for the MP Govt, but for Mr Lakshminarayanan’s efforts.
He was the Principal Secretary of the Mining department of the undivided Madhya Pradesh who did not succumb to the pressure of multinational giants like De Beers which wanted to wrest control of MP’s all diamond mines. The South African company at the time, controlled over 70 percent of global diamond trade.
But, Mr Lakshminarayanan formulated a policy wherein one company could operate in not more than 10,000 square kilometers area whereas MP’s diamond mines were spread across over 70,000 square kms, to be allotted in parts of 5000 sq kms. The deal was supposed to fetch the beleaguered state an annual revenue in the excess of Rs 1000 crores. Failing to monopolise the trade, De Beers exited from M.P., thanks to Mr. Lakshminarayanan.
He also worked as Additional Secretary, Telecom at the Centre when Mr Nripendra Mishra, was Telecom Secretary. The two veteran officers came together again – this time for Ram Janmabhoomi Temple in Ayodhya. While Nripendra Mishra is chairman of the temple trust, Mr Lakshminarayanan donated his entire property for the Golden Ramayana to be kept at the feet of Lord Ram’s idol in the temple to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 22, 2024.
