New Delhi, February 26: TSR Subramanian, former Cabinet Secretary of the Union government passed away due to prolonged illness on Monday. Confirming the news, the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) Association took to Twitter and said, " Extremely shocked to hear the sad news of the demise of T S R Subramanian. He was the tallest amongst all and is a big loss for the IAS fraternity and the nation. Deepest Condolences to all family members. We hope and pray that your ideas and thoughts will continue to guide us."

The cremation ceremony of Subramanian will take place at Delhi's Lodhi Road crematorium at 5.30 p.m. today. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also expressed condolence over the demise of Subramanian.

"Former Cabinet Secretary TSR Subramanyam is no more. Saddened by the news. He was affable, full of ideas and energetic. In many a debate on TV channels, shared thoughts with him. Condolences to his family and his fraternity," Sitharaman tweeted.

Union Cabinet Minister of Textiles and Information and Broadcasting Smriti Irani also mourned his death.

"Shocked to hear about the sad demise of TSR Subramanian ji. Had the good fortune of receiving his guidance on many a policy matters. My condolences to his loved ones. Om Shanti" she tweeted.

Subramanian headed an expert committee that submitted a new National Education Policy to the Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry. He also headed the Cabinet Secretariat, which is responsible for the administration of the Indian government. Subramanian was a 1961 batch officer of the Indian Administrative Service of the Uttar Pradesh cadre. He was also posted as Secretary in the Ministry of Textiles. He later also headed several government committees including those on education and environment and was also the author of a number of books.