Ratan Tata a champion for underprivileged, says Soumya Swaminathan, global health leaders

New Delhi, Oct 10 (IANS) Ratan Tata has been a champion for the underprivileged and left an extraordinary legacy in India and the world, said global health leaders as they mourn the demise of the Chairman Emeritus of the Tata Group.

The legendary industrialist and philanthropist passed away at the Breach Candy Hospital following age-related health conditions late on Wednesday. He was 86.

“Deeply saddened by the passing of Mr Ratan Tata - a friend, guide, mentor to many and a champion for the underprivileged,” said Soumya Swaminathan, former WHO Chief Scientist, in a post on X.

While offering “prayers and condolences to his family,” she said his “legacy will live on forever”.

In a post shared on X, Tata Memorial Hospital called him “a visionary leader with the highest integrity, but also an incredibly compassionate person. Truly a nation builder”.

The business tycoon was also a former trustee at the US-based Cornell University “who became the university’s largest international donor – supporting scholarships, research to reduce rural poverty and malnutrition in India, and technology innovation,” the varsity said in a blogpost.

“Ratan Tata has left an extraordinary legacy in India, across the world and at Cornell, which he cared about deeply,” said Interim President Michael I. Kotlikoff.

Lauding the “quiet demeanour and humility” of Ratan Tata, Kotlikoff said his “generosity and concern for others enabled research and scholarship that improved the education and health of millions of people in India and beyond”.Tata served as the all-powerful Chairman of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group, from 1991 till his retirement on December 28, 2012.Dr Ishwar Gilada, a Consultant in HIV/STDs, Unison Medicare and Research Centre, Mumbai, shared that there can “neither be any comparison nor replacement” Ratan Tata.

Meanwhile, Ratan Tata's family said in an early morning update that his mortal remains will be taken to the NCPA Lawns at around 10.30 a.m. to enable people to pay their last respect and homage to the departed soul.

At around 4 p.m., his body would embark on the final journey from Nariman Point to the Worli Crematorium prayer hall for the last rites.At the crematorium, the mortal remains, draped in the national flag, will be given a police gun salute and then will be consigned to the flames, said the family.