The IAS officer, MV Rao, was earlier the head of NIRD and NFDB.
Recounting the incident, Rao tweeted: “In 2014, a company called ‘Saubhagya Wet Grinder’ was a sponsor in some event where Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam was the chief guest. The sponsor presented a gift to him which he respectfully declined to accept. The sponsor explained that it was just a grinder and requested him to accept. He took the gift without any further argument.”
“Next day, APJ sent his person to the market to find out price of grinder. He later made out a cheque from his personal account of market price and sent it across to company,” he added.
However, the company decided not to deposit cheque.
According to Rao, Kalam followed up with his bank, and when the due deduction did not happen in time, he informed the company to deposit cheque or else he would be constrained to send the grinder back.”Seeing his resolve, the company deposited cheque but made a photocopy of the same, framed it, and kept it on display,” Rao added.Dr. Kalam, revered as the people’s president, played a pivotal role in propelling India’s missile technology to remarkable heights. He was a key architect behind the development of the Agni and Prithvi ballistic missiles, which strengthened India’s defence capabilities and cemented its position in the global scientific arena. Moreover, his crowning achievement came in the form of the SLV-III, India’s maiden indigenous satellite launch vehicle, marking a significant milestone in the country’s space exploration endeavours.