THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: He is celebrated as the ‘Maveli minister.’ Unfortunately, Kerala polity never gave him a chance to utilise his real skills for the welfare of the state. E Chandrasekharan Nair, the man who was held in high esteem in the national banking circles, will be remembered as the ‘fantastic’ finance minister Kerala was not fortunate enough to have. “Oh yes, he would have made a fantastic finance minister. As a former finance secretary I wish I could have worked with him,” concurs D Babu Paul, former Additional Chief Secretary. “He would have risen to the levels of C Achutha Menon, R Sankar, A J John and Panampilly Govinda Menon, who handled the finance portfolio in Kerala and Travancore – Cochin ministries. He belonged to that league, but never got the chance,” he said.
The CPI had tried its best to seek the finance portfolio in the LDF meets, post elections. A former state secretary demanded the portfolio with E Chandrasekharan Nair in mind. But big brother CPM could not politically afford to be so magnanimous!All those who have worked with him were impressed with Chandrasekharan Nair’s acumen at financial management. A quality acknowledged by many and which took him to the helm of the state co-operative bank, despite the CPI not having the advantage of numbers in the director board. In 1973, C K Mani from Kottayam was all set to contest for the post of the bank’s president when Aryadan Mohammed, who was aware of Nair’s performance at the district level, proposed his name to the post. C K Mani withdrew with magnanimity and Chandrasekharan Nair remained president till 1980 when he was inducted into the E K Nayanar ministry.
His work in the co-operative sector, including the deposit drives and initiatives for rural development, caught national attention. This made him an automatic choice for bodies like the Agriculture Credit Board of the RBI. “He was a great intellectual who wandered into politics!” observed Babu Paul. It was his reputation as a genius which was recognised by the Reserve Bank of India.He also had an eye for efficient officers, recalls Kariyam Ravi who was in his personal staff for many years and known in media circles as Nair’s shadow.
A classic example was picking K M Chandrasekhar, who was then at the helm of Travancore Titanium Products and later went on to become Cabinet Secretary of India, to head the Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation. It was this minister and officer team which conceived and implemented the now legendary ‘Maveli Stores’.
In his widely read service story ‘Kadha Ithu Vare,’ Babu Paul makes an interesting observation. “On the way to the Cabinet room, all the ministers in the E K Nayanar Government had to hang their backbones in Murali’s room (the late E N Muraleedharan Nair, who was private secretary to the Chief Minister). But Chandrasekharan Nair had the permission to keep it in his pocket!” The man with a spotless track record has walked away into history with his head held high.
The Ginger group of 1957
E Chandrasekharan Nair was the last of the ‘Ginger group of 1957’ to depart. The group of five young Communist MLAs in the first state Assembly spearheaded the attack on the mighty Opposition which consisted of many stalwarts. The senior Communist leaders who became the ministers preferred to keep away from the attack. All the members were between the age of 29 and 33. Twenty-nine-year-old Chandrasekharan Nair was the youngest of the lot while 33-year-old Thoppil Bhasi was the eldest. Veliyam Bhargavan,29, N Rajagopalan Nair,31, and P Govinda Pillai, 32, were the other members. They used to sit together, study and plan the type of attack against the Opposition in a room dedicated to them close to the secretariat building.
‘The Maveli Mantri of the masses’
Pannyan Raveendran
E Chandrasekharan Nair was one of the few administrators in Kerala who won the hearts of people through innovative measures that enhanced their quality of life. His most popular contribution was undoubtedly the Maveli Stores, essential commodity stores run by the Civil Supplies Corporation started during his tenure as Food Minister. In a short span of time Maveli Stores emerged as a key player in fixing food prices in the state.
People affectionately called him ‘Maveli Manthri’.In terms of administrative acumen and benevolence to fellow beings, Chandrasekharan Nair was akin to Maveli, the mythical Kerala ruler. He was a six-time MLA and minister thrice. In both roles he set a model of sorts for the youngsters to emulate.
Nair shined in every position he held. His tryst with the cooperative sector saw the birth of a new initiative - the deposit mobilisation scheme - which helped cooperative banks to survive in a highly competitive field. Nair was a model party worker who did not go after positions. He neither demanded anything nor accepted everything that was offered to him.
He accepted positions only after analysing whether he can contribute to it.I’d a very warm relation with him that started during my presidential tenure with AIYF. Nair’s brother E Rajendran was AIYF secretary then. I was a regular visitor to their home. I would call him ‘Chandran Chettan’ and he addressed me ‘Ravi’.
As the state office-bearers of AIYF, me and Rajendran, succeeded in hosting an international conference on marine peace in Kerala. The event was a success but we were left with a debt of `12,000, a huge amount then. We went into hiding for sometime until we met Nair who suggested us to conduct a campaign to mobilise funds. At that time he advised us to weigh the pros and cons before starting a venture. This piece of advice helped me a lot in future.