PM visits Sharada Prasad's home; condoles death

New Delhi, Sep 3 (UNI) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today visited the family of H Y Sharada Prasad, the former media advisor to Indira Gandhi, and condoled his death.

The former press advisor to three Prime Ministers, including Ms Gandhi, passed away yesterday. He was subsequently cremated.

Dr Singh met Mrs Kamalamma Sharada Prasad and expressed his condolences to her and other family members. He recalled Mr Prasad's association with the freedom struggle and his service and dedication to the country.

Expressing grief and shock over his death, Dr Singh described Mr Prasad a man of great erudition, civility and integrity, who embodied in his multi-faceted personality the highest ideals of public service.

The Prime Minister said his scholarship and thinking shaped the views and public discourse of the three Prime Ministers, who he served with great distinction as the media advisor.

Jailed during the 1942 Quit India Movement, Dr Singh said his association with the freedom struggle instilled in him a strong sense of selfless service and dedication to duty that won him his very large circle of friends and admirers.

The Prime Minister recalled Sharda Prasad having once said that he was lucky to be born in India at a time when Mahatma Gandhi still walked the earth.

Also describing him first and foremost a civil servant, steeped in Nehruvian traditions and inspired by Gandhian values, Dr Singh said despite demands on his time, Mr Prasad was a prolific writer in English and Kannada.

Despite several accomplishments, his friends will always remember him as a simple man, who led an extraordinary life in the service of the country, he noted.

He said in his passing away, the country has lost a role model and an exceptional human being, who left a deep impact on public life and in the world of letters.

UNI SAA ATI AS1823