Meppally Keshava Pillai Krishnankutty Nair (29 December 1920 – 27 September 1987), commonly identified as M. K. K. Nair, was an Indian bureaucrat, art connoisseur and

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the Public administration, administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. The IAS is one of the three All India Services along with the Indian Police Service (IPS) and the Indian ...

officer from

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

. Besides his services in the setting up of

Bhilai Steel Plant The Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP), located in Bhilai, in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, is India's first and main producer of steel rails, as well as a major producer of wide steel plates and other steel products. The plant also produces steel and ...

and in the development of

Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore The Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Limited, abbreviated as FACT, is an Indian central public sector undertaking headquartered in Kochi, Kerala. It was incorporated in 1943, by Maharajah Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma of the Kingdo ...

, Nair was known for his contributions in promoting fine arts and performing arts such as

Kathakali ''Kathakali'' (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: Kathakaḷi ) is a traditional form of Indian Classical Dance, and one of the most complex forms of Theatre of India, Indian theatre. It is a play of verses. These vers ...

, in the state of

Biography

M. K. K. Nair was born on 29 December 1920 in

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

, in the south Indian state of

to Kesava Pillai and Janaky Amma. After graduating in physics from the

University of Madras The University of Madras is a public university, public State university (India), state university in Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and most prominent universities in India, incorporated by an ...

in 1939 with first rank, he started his career as a divisional accountant in the civil service of

Travancore The kingdom of Travancore (), also known as the kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor () or later as Travancore State, was a kingdom that lasted from until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvanan ...

where he had the opportunity to work under C. P. Ramaswami Iyer, the then Diwan. Later, he worked as an accountant with the telephone department before moving to

Secunderabad Secunderabad () is a twin cities, twin city of Hyderabad and one of the six zones of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Telangana. It is the headquarters of the South ...

to join the ordnance factory of the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

in 1943 as a civilian gazetted officer, one among the first four civilian gazetted officers in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

and served as a planning officer. He worked at the ordnance factory until 1947 when he quit the job to appear for the

examination to join the service in 1949 which brought him in contact with

V. P. Menon Vappala Pangunni Menon (30 September 1893 – 31 December 1965) was an Indian civil servant who served as Secretary to the Government of India in the Ministry of the States, under Sardar Patel. By appointment from Viceroy and Governor-Genera ...

, a senior IAS officer and a close associate of

Sardar Vallabhai Patel Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel (; ''Vallabhbhāī Jhāverbhāī Paṭel''; 31 October 1875 – 15 December 1950), commonly known as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, was an Indian independence activist and statesman who served as the first Deputy Prime ...

. When the commissioning of

was getting delayed, the then Indian Prime Minister,

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

, on advice from

T. T. Krishnamachari Tiruvellore Thattai Krishnamachari (1899 1974) was an Indian politician who served as Finance Minister from 1956 to 1958 and from 1964 to 1966. He was also a founding member of the first governing body of the National Council of Applied Econom ...

who was the

Minister of Industries and Commerce The Minister of Industries and Commerce in New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of Ne ...

at that time, appointed Nair with the responsibility of commissioning the plant which was accomplished in 1959. Subsequently, he returned to his home state of Kerala when he was appointed as the chairman and managing director of the

(FACT) where he stayed until his appointment as a joint secretary in the

Planning Commission of India The Planning Commission was an institution in the Government of India which formulated India's Five-Year Plans, among other functions. In his first Independence Day speech in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced his intention to diss ...

in 1971. M. K. K. Nair died on 27 September 1987, at the age of 66, at

Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the largest and ...

, succumbing to cancer, survived by his wife and their three sons.

Legacy and honours

Nair oversaw the development of Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore into one of the major industrial units in Kerala; it was during his tenure that a new

Ammonium Sulphate Ammonium sulfate (American English and international scientific usage; ammonium sulphate in British English); (NH4)2SO4, is an inorganic salt with a number of commercial uses. The most common use is as a soil fertilizer. It contains 21% nitrogen a ...

plant, ''FACT Engineering and Design Organisation'' (FEDO) and ''FACT Engineering Works'' (FEW) were set up and the work on the establishment of another production unit in

Ambalamedu Ambalamedu is a suburb of the city of Kochi in Kerala, India. Ambalamedu is located near the border of the former states of Travancore and Cochin and lies on a lake. History Ambalamedu is now associated with the Cochin Division of the Fertili ...

was started. He developed the FACT community into a self-sufficient one with own schools and hospitals. He was known to have assisted

artists such as

Kalamandalam Hyderali Kalamandalam Hyderali (5 September 1946 – 5 January 2006) was one of the best Kathakali singers of his generation, and the first non-Hindu artiste to make a mark in the four-century-old classical dance-drama from Kerala in south India. Lif ...

Kalamandalam Sankaran Embranthiri Kalamandalam Sankaran Embranthiri (1944–2007) was a Kathakali musician, renowned for his contributions to the classical dance-drama from Kerala in South India. His shruti-aligned music, combined with a distinctive voice spanning three octaves, ...

Kalamandalam Kesavan Kalamandalam Kesavan was an Indian kathakali percussionist, playwright and actor in Indian cinema. He did roles in Malayalam movies during the 1990s and 2000s. He is popular for his role ''Payyarathu Padmanabhan Nair'' as Jayaram's father in th ...

and Kalamandalam Neelakantan Nambisan of which Hyderali served as a faculty at the cultural wing of FACT. Nair wrote his autobiography, ''Aarodum Paribhavamillathe'' (With Malice Towards None: The Chronicle of an Era), as a weekly article serial in

Kalakaumudi ''Kalakaumudi'' is an illustrated weekly news magazine published in Malayalam language from Kerala, India. It is printed in Thiruvananthapuram and distributed throughout Kerala by Kalakaumudi Publications Pvt. Ltd. ''Kalakaumudi'' was launche ...

, detailing his experiences during and after his administrative career. The book, while narrating his early administrative days, describes the

Indian annexation of Hyderabad The Annexation of Hyderabad (code-named Operation Polo) was a military operation launched in September 1948 that resulted in the annexation of the princely state of Hyderabad by India, which was dubbed a "police action". At the time of part ...

, code-named ''Operation Polo'' as well as the political differences between Jawaharlal Nehru and

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel (; ''Vallabhbhāī Jhāverbhāī Paṭel''; 31 October 1875 – 15 December 1950), commonly known as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, was an Indian independence activist and statesman who served as the first Deputy Prime ...

. The book was later translated into English by one of his junior colleagues at FACT, Gopakumar M. Nair. The book had another English translation, too, under the title, ''The Autobiography of a Bureaucrat'', and the translation was done by Meena Das Narayan, a writer and the niece of M. K. K. Nair. His life was chronicled as a television series, ''Smruthi'' which was broadcast on

Safari TV Safari TV is an Indian non-profit free to air television channel broadcasting in Malayalam language. It is an exploration channel based in Marangattupilly, Kottayam, Kerala. The channel is part of Safari Multimedia Pvt.Ltd, India. A TV channel ...

in 2017. The Kerala Management Association has instituted an annual lecture, M. K. K. Nair Memorial lecture in his honour and a community centre in

Eloor Eloor is a suburb of Kochi and a municipality in Paravur Taluk, Ernakulam District in the Indian state of Kerala, India. It is an industrial area situated around north of the city centre. It is an island of 14.21 km2 formed between two d ...

, the place where he spent the later days of his career, ''MKK Nair Memorial Community Hall'' has been named after him. ''M. K. K. Nair Foundation'', an eponymous organization in his name, has instituted an annual award, ''M. K. K. Nair Award'', for recognising excellence in performing arts.

Controversy

In 1974, cases were registered against him by the

Central Bureau of Investigation The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the domestic crime investigating agency of India. It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. Originally set up to investigate bribery and gover ...

alleging abuse of power and corruption. The trial court exonerated him in 1983 and the appeal court acquitted him in 1987, shortly before his death. Years later,

D. Babu Paul Dr Daniel Babu Paul (11 April 1941 – 12 April 2019) was an Indian civil servant, writer, member of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) All-India rank 7 from the Batch of 1964 and member Ombudsman for local self-government institutions of ...

, a former chief secretary of the

Government of Kerala The Government of Kerala (abbreviated as GoK), also known as the Kerala Government, is the administrative body responsible for governing the Indian States and territories of India, state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who ...

, while delivering the M. K. K. Nayar Memorial lecture, revealed that Nair was being harassed at the behest of a former prime minister of India who happened to come to know about the disparaging comments that Nair had recorded in his personal diary.

Bibliography

References

External links