Pune, Apr 25 (IANS): Senior IAS officer and former Union Home Secretary Dr Madhav Godbole passed away following a cardiac failure at his home here on Monday, a family member said.

He was 85 and breathed his last surrounded by his family members.

Dr Godbole is survived by his wife Sujata, son Rahul and daughter-in-law Dakshina, daughter Meera and son-in-law Mahesh and grandchildren.

Dr Godbole completed his Master's in Arts and a Ph.D in Economics from University of Mumbai then did his M.A. in Development Economics from Williams College, Massachusetts, US.

Author of around 22 books, including 13 in English, penning papers, and as a regular columnist with several major publications, Godbole took voluntary retirement in March 1993 when he was the Union Home Secretary and Union Secretary, Justice.

During his long bureaucratic career, he chaired several important government committees, including the Enron Power Project in Maharashtra and management of India's international borders.

He also served in key positions in Maharashtra like Principal Finance Secretary, Chairman of Maharashtra State Electricity Board, and at the Centre like Secretary, Petroleum & Natural Gas Secretary, Urban Development, besides a five-year stint with Asian Development Bank at Manila, Philippines.

A prolific writer, he penned books like "The God Who Failed: An Assessment of Jawaharlal Nehru's Leadership" and "Good Governance Never on India's Radar" (both 2014), "Secularism: India at Crossroads" (2016) and "Indira Gandhi - An era of Constitutional Dictatorship" (2018), several of which were translated into Marathi and Hindi.

Dr Godbole published compilations of essays in English and Marathi, penned over 450 leader articles or weekly columns in leading newspapers, journals and periodicals, and his Marathi writings bagged six prizes in non-fiction or intellectual categories.