V. Ramachandran

[4] The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 2008, for his contributions to Indian civil service.

[8] In between, he also had two stints outside Kerala cadre; the first as a Joint Secretary at the Prime Minister's secretariat during the tenures of Indira Gandhi and Morarji Desai from 1972 to 1978, with the responsibility of science and technology and economic affairs and the second as the vice-chairman of the United Nations Committee on Right to Development from 1980 to 1984.

[9] With the lifting of President's rule on 24 June 1991, he was relieved of the duty and the Government of Kerala invited him to accept the position of the vice-chairman of Kerala State Planning Board, a post holding the rank of a cabinet minister; he had earlier served the Board as a member during his civil service years.

[11] He chaired an Expert Group on Participatory Planning which deliberated on the concept of Panchayati Raj and proposed measures which was later taken up by the state as well as other regions in India.

[15] Towards the later days of his life, the couple resided in Bengaluru and it was here, he died on 1 December 2015, at the age of 84, succumbing to age-related illnesses.