Oldest surviving ICS officer V K Rao leaves for heavenly abode

Centenarian and oldest surviving Indian Civil Service officer and former Chief Secretary of undivided Andhra Pradesh V K Rao died at the age of 104.He had held several important positions such as Advisor to Governor, Vigilance Commissioner. Rao occupied positions in significant districts of undivided Bengal prior to 1947, such as Midnapore and Dacca, where as SDO Munshiganj he kept his sub-division absolutely calm and quiet while other parts of Dacca district, such as Manikganj and Narayanganj, were burning in flames. After 1947, he moved to the Madras cadre and was Collector of Vizag, and then Secretary to Government in Andhra and Andhra Pradesh, Member, Board of Revenue and finally the State's Chief Secretary, in which role he handled the ‘Mulki’ agitations. In between he had also been a Joint Secretary to the Government of India in the Planning Commission. In his post-retirement career he was Adviser to the Governor and later the Principal Secretary to the President of India.