The former chairman of Railway Board and ex-officio Principal Secretary, Union Ministry of Railways, M.N. Prasad, passed away early on Sunday, in Kollam.

He was 81. The son of the former chief secretary of erstwhile Travancore, C.O. Madhavan.

Prasad, who belonged to the Indian Railway Service of Engineers (IRSE) 1954 cadre, had settled in Thiruvananthapuram after retiring as Railway Board chief in July 1990.

Alumnus of the College of Engineering Trivandrum, he joined the Travancore- Cochin State PWD after graduating in Civil Engineering with distinction in 1952. He joined the IRSE in 1954 and served various zonal railways for over 36 years, of which the last five-and-a-half years were in the capacity of General Manager and above.

As General Manager of North-east Frontier Railway, he was also responsible for the completion of crucial stages of construction of the second Brahmaputra Bridge. An ardent campaigner of road safety, he was instrumental in including road safety in the curriculum for schoolchildren.

He was a member of the State Road Safety council and was one of the founding members of the Accident Prevention and Trauma Care Association and founder-member of SPCA, Trivandrum. He held many posts, including chairman of State Public Enterprises Selection Board.

He is survived by a son and two daughters. The funeral will be held at Shantikavadom, Thycaud, at 12 noon on Monday.

(This news item first appeared in The Hindu print edition dated November 25, 2013.)

Correction:

An earlier version of the copy sourced from PTI stated that MN Prasad was an IAS officer. The error is regretted.

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