Dr.MN Menon GMVC /BVSc (Madras) MRCVS (London) , FRCVS (London) : Former Animal Husbandry Commissioner and Jt.Secretary to Govt.of India ((Ex Officious) , DADF , Ministry of Agriculture .
Guru Sakshath Parabrahma Thasmii Sri Gurave Namah
Dr.MN Menon was one of the most outstanding Veterinary Professionals in India. After a distinguished academic career :
Completed the 5 year GMVC/BVSc Course in 1945 , from the Madras Veterinary College (Dr.KS Nair was the Principal then) , Dr.Menon joined the Indian Dairy Research Institute and acquired their Associateship.
He then went to the UK and took MRCVS from the Royal Veterinary College , London : later the Royal College awarded him FRCVS , for the innovative thoracic surgery technique in dogs , he developed.
Dr. Menon worked with the Indian Army and the state Government and chose the academic stream as his career.
While working as the Professor of Surgery in the Madras Veterinary College , in 1958 , the Kerala Government invited him to join the newly established Kerala Veterinary College and appointed him as the Principal as well as the Professor of Surgery. Later , in 1961 , the Government appointed him as Director of Animal Husbandry of the Kerala State.
In 1971 , Dr. V Kurien , Chairman of the National Dairy Development Board as well as the Indian Dairy Corporation , persuaded Dr.Menon to join the Indian Dairy Corporation as its Regional Manager in Chennai. Dr.Kurien wanted him to actively participate in the world famous Farmer / Dairy Development Project ” Operation Flood” he launched in 1970! Soon he was moved to the Head Office of the IDC in Baroda , Gujarat , as the Head MPEP ( Milk Production Enhancement and Milk Procurement ).
Meanwhile , I was already the Dy.Director of Farmer Organisation and Animal Husbandry Division of the National Dairy Development Board , also in Anand Gujarat. We thus became Colleagues in the same National set up. Among other things , one of the most interesting and important tasks we did jointly was to acquire from the world market very high genetic quality , breeding stock of dairy cattle : pregnant heifers and young Breeding Bulls : thousands of them from Europe UK , United Sates , Canada , Australia and New Zealand .
We also organised the massive air transport operation of the globally acquired Dairy Seed Stock , by specially chartered 747 Boeing Cargo Aircrafts to the various Indian air ports.
In the second half of 1975 , Dr.Menon was appointed by the Govt. of India as the Animal Husbandry Commisioner and Joint Secretary ex officio , in the Central Ministry of Agriculture . When Dr.Menon became a part of the Govt. of India , I took over as Head MPEP in IDC and continued the tasks he left behind.
Dr.Menon was the Protege , student and also Son in Law , of Dr.KS Nair and he had two children : a son and a daughter. After a very distinguished career , Dr. Menon superannuated and retired to his home state Kerala and settled in Thiruvananthapuram . He left for his heavenly abode in the late nineties .
Dr.Menon was a man of unassailable Integrity : Personal and professional . He was also a wonderful human being . He was my teacher , Boss and role model and finally my colleague. All my life he was my mentor , friend , philosopher and guide.
May his noble soul rest eternally in his heavenly home !
Guru sakshath Parabrahma , Thasmii Sri Gurave Namah.
MPG Kurup : Toronto , Canada
Source : Personal closeness to Dr.Menon and substantial inputs from Prof.Dr.M Krishnan Nair , Dean , Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Sciences.
