Ex-Navy chief Admiral Ramdas passes away in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Former Navy Chief Admiral (retd) L Ramdas passed away on Friday at a military hospital here. He was 90 and was suffering from health issues related to old age.

Ramdas, who was admitted to the hospital on March 11, breathed his last Friday morning, his daughter Sagari R Ramdas said.

“He came to stay with me here in Hyderabad about nine months ago because he was not keeping good health,” she told PTI.

The funeral will be held in Hyderabad on March 16, she said.

Admiral Ramdas is survived by his wife Lalita Ramdas and three daughters.

On November 30, 1990, he had taken over as the 13th Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) and retired in 1993.

Admiral Ramdas, whose full name is Laxminarayan Ramdas, settled at Alibag in Maharashtra after retirement.

He was born on September 5, 1933 in Matunga, Mumbai and completed his early education in Delhi at Presentation Convent and Ramjas College.

He joined the Joint Services Wing of the Armed Forces Academy in Clement Town, Dehradun in 1949, and was commissioned as an officer of the Indian Navy in September 1953. He was trained as a communications specialist.

Some of his key achievements while in service include establishing the Naval Academy in Cochin, commanding INS Beas which played a pivotal role during the 1971 India-Pakistan war, serving as the Indian Naval Attache in Bonn, West Germany (1973-76), serving as Fleet Commander of the Eastern Naval Command, and commanding both the Southern and Eastern Naval Commands, his daughter Sagari Ramdas said.

It was during his tenure as Chief of Naval Staff that women were inducted into the armed forces, with the Navy taking the lead.

After retirement, Admiral Ramdas settled in Bhaimala village in Alibag, Maharashtra, on a piece of land awarded to him by the Maharashtra government in recognition of his acts of gallantry in the 1971 war.

He and his wife Lalita Ramdas practiced organic farming and involved themselves in a range of public service activities. These include being actively involved in the Pakistan-India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPPFD), Indo-Pakistan Soldiers Initiative for Peace (IPSI), and the anti-nuclear peace movement Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP).

They were also part of movements for gender equality, fisherpeople’s rights, the rights of farmers, the rights of religious and ethnic minorities, and many others, she said.

Over the years, Ramdas became an outspoken voice on social causes, advocating actively for the defence of the Constitution, especially the values of liberty, equality, fraternity and secularism, she added.