The News Minute| March 11, 2015| 08:32 am IST 

The Founder Director of NIMHANS, Dr R Marthanda Varma, passed away at M S Ramaiah Memorial Hospital on Tuesday. He was 93 and was suffering from age-related ailments, The New Indian Express reports. 

Dr Varma was among the first five neurosurgeons in India and in 1970 was conferred the Padma Shri. A member of Mavelikkara royal family, he also served as the Director General of Health Services. 

The report quotes Dr D Nagaraja, former director of NIMHANS, as saying about Dr Varma, "He was the father figure of neurosciences in the state. NIMHANS is what it is today because of his vision. It was with great difficulty that he was able to amalgamate the state mental hospital and the Central Hospital into NIMHANS".

Dr Varma is well known for devising a technique to treat Parkinson’s, the report states.