Former Maharashtra Minister Ranjeet Deshmukh

Ranjeet Deshmukh, Former Maharashtra minister and ex-president of state unit of Congress, will be celebrating his 75th birthday on May 29. To pay his respects to the congress veteran on his birthday, Dr ML Madan, the former Vice Chancellor of Dr Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola, has written a letter to convey his respect and feelings.

Here’s the letter:

“It gives me great pleasure to write about Shri Ranjeet Babu ji Deshmukh, an eminent public figure, a popular kisan leader, an astute politician and a kind gentle man with a noble head and heart. I had the privilege of having worked closely with him when Shri Deshmukh ji was the Minister of Agriculture in the State of Maharashtra and I joined took the position of the Vice Chancellor of Dr Panjabrao Deshmukh Agricultural University in Akola.

Ranjeet Babuji has excellent leadership abilities, and I was lucky to have an understanding leader and guide like him. A leader not only shows the way but also walks the way was amply proved by the way the affairs of the university in particular and agriculture of the state was handled. Working with a superlative public administrator like him was a memorable and the best experience of my career in Maharashtra.

When I entered the portals of the university, chartered by the Honorable Governor PC Alexander, the institution was in complete disarray with depilated infrastructure, poor financial health and a low morale of a disgusted staff who had no salaries and on top of it the contingencies had been all cut with universities charged to generate their own resources.

Under these circumstances it was the unflinching support of respected Babuji for my endeavor to get the university to an high pedestal of functioning. But for his unique qualities of head and heart, which I was fortunate to be richly showered with, I would not have achieved in transforming the University the way it did.

His management acumen helped in transforming academics and infrastructure, both at Akola and at Nagpur, by sharpening our initiatives and allowing me a free hand for reforms and enabled access to higher financial authorities for pleading the restoration of contingencies to the Agriculture Universities, a task I successfully achieved by making presentations before the Chief Secretary and the Minister of Finance.

I would always find him concerned about the issues of increasing land productivity and insisting in developing systems to take research advancement to the farmer’s field. Since he was fully versant with the problems of farmers and had an insight as to how to redress them, it was never difficult to convince him of our new initiatives.

The projects of biotechnological park at Akola and the Biodiversity park at Telankhedi Lake in Nagpur were planned with his full support to generate revenue for the university. These projects have provided a financial revenue boom for the institutes.

Shri Deshmukh ji proved in real that he is an amazing leader and I feel proud that I had opportunity to work for him for Maharashtra agriculture. Thanks for his support and guidance and the great trust he showed in me by upholding all decisions I took in the revitalization of the university, even at the annoyance of vested political and administrative interests.

I for one have always admired him for his acumen of getting things done and leading from the front. Thanks for showing how dedicated and sincere leaders of the political class function and how each meeting with him was a challenge and his prerogative guidance a rich learning process.

I pray to God for his good health and prosperity so that he can lead the farming community and the political class of the nation for a long time. . His excellent leadership always demands celebration and I feel honored to join you all in celebrating his seventy five years of very fruitful and successful life.”