Manohar Parrikar remembered as defence reformer with clean image

Goa CM Manohar Parrikar died in Panaji on Sunday, succumbing to a pancreatic ailment that had slowed down the technocrat-politician

Manohar Gopalkrishna Prabhu Parrikar, who passed away in Goa on Sunday evening, is remembered in the defence ministry and across the industry as a rare minister who grasped the daunting technological dimensions of the military. 

His background as an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) graduate and as a chief minister with an excellent track record as an administrator equipped him to initiate defence industry and policy reforms that are only now beginning to bear fruit.

On November 10, 2014, Parrikar left as Goa’s chief minister and took over the powerful defence minister’s post, replacing Arun Jaitley who had functioned as a stopgap