The Bharat Rathna and the Nobel Prize are the two recognitions that have eluded the scientist, who won the first-ever World Food Prize instituted by Dr Norman E Borlaug in 1987.
Professor MS Swaminathan, eminent agricultural scientist and one of the fathers of India’s Green Revolution, will soon be honoured with the Bharat Rathna, the country’s top civilian award, Jayanti Natarajan, minister of state for environment and forests, said in Chennai on Sunday.
“I am expecting an announcement in this regard soon,” said Natarajan, while releasing the 21st annual report of the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation, a Chennai-based initiative launched by the scientist for helping the country’s farming community on sustainable development.
The meeting was organised by the colleagues and admirers of Prof Swaminathan in connection with his 86th birthday which fell on Sunday.
A three-day international seminar on Mangroves for Coastal Area Management is also being held as part of the birth day celebration. Scientists and environmentalists from more than 15 countries are taking part in the brainstorming sessions to device strategies to increase the mangroves along the entire coastal stretch of the earth. If what Minister Natarajan said is true, Prof Swaminathan will become the eighth person from Tamil Nadu to be honoured with Bharat Rathna.
The agricultural scientist told DNA that he was really moved by the words of the minister. “When friends and well wishers speak good things about me, I consider it that they are speaking about someone else. Hence it will not go to my head,” he said.
The Bharat Rathna and the Nobel Prize are the two recognitions that have eluded the scientist. He was the winner of the first-ever World Food Prize instituted by Dr Norman E Borlaug in 1987. The WFP is the foremost international award that recognizes the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world.
Prof Swaminathan has been honoured with Padma Vibhushan in 1989 and the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1971. He also holds more than 50 honorary doctorates from various universities in Indian and abroad.
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