Former Kerala minister E Chandrasekharan Nair passes away

In 1980, Nair was appointed chairman of the Adhoc Committee for the formation of Subject Committees, which recommended the formation of 10 Subject Committees for the detailed scrutiny of budget, an innovative concept in the Legislative history of India.

(File) Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan presenting a memento to E Chandrasekharan Nair, a living member of the first Legislative Assembly. (Source: @keralainfoiprd)

E Chandrasekharan Nair, who was a member of the first Kerala Assembly, died at a Thiruvananthapuram Hospital on Wednesday. He was 89. He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.

Born on December 2, 1928, Nair entered active politics at a young age. He joined Students Congress at Annamalai University, then joined Indian Socialist Party (ISP) and subsequently the Communist Party in 1952. A law graduate, he practiced as a lawyer till 1970. A strong advocate of co-operative movement, he had a long association with the co-operative sector, especially in Kollam district.

He was the president of Kollam District Co-operative Bank for more than 29 years and had the rare opportunity of getting elected as the chairman of All India State Co-operative Bank Federation and the vice-president of National Co-operative Union and member of the Central Committee of the International Co-operative Alliance and member of Agriculture Credit Board of RBI.

In 1980, Nair was appointed chairman of the Adhoc Committee for the formation of Subject Committees, which recommended the formation of 10 Subject Committees for the detailed scrutiny of budget, an innovative concept in the Legislative history of India. The committee formed under his chairmanship in 1999 had also given recommendations to streamline the functioning of the Subject Committees, after an in-depth analysis of their working.

In the Kerala government headed by E K Nayanar, Nair was the Minister for Food, & Civil Supplies and Housing from January 25, 1980 to October 20, 1981. In addition to the portfolio of Food and Civil Supplies, he handled the portfolio of Animal Husbandry & Dairy Development from April 2, 1987 to June 17, 1991. In the 10th Kerala Legislative Assembly (KLA) he represented Karunagappalli and was the Minister for Food, Tourism & Law from May 20, 1996 to May 13, 2001.

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