THRISSUR: Former nuclear scientist and communist theorist MP Parameswaran, who was one of Kerala’s most influential advocates of people’s science and decentralised development, died in Thrissur on Tuesday. He was 91.
Born on January 18, 1935, at Kiralur in Thrissur district, Parameswaran had his early education in Thrissur. He graduated in Electrical Engineering from the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, in 1956 before pursuing a PhD in Nuclear Engineering at the Moscow Power Institute, which he completed in 1965.
Parameswaran began his professional career as a scientist at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Mumbai in 1957. He remained there until 1975, working in the field of nuclear science before making a decisive shift from scientific research to public activism.
A frontline figure in the Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad (KSSP), Parameswaran was instrumental in transforming the organisation from a forum for science writers into a broad based people’s movement.
He resigned from his scientific career in 1975 to devote himself full time to the popularisation of science and social development.
Over the following decades, he emerged as one of the most prominent faces of the people’s science movement in Kerala. He championed concepts such as village science, decentralisation and intermediate technologies suited to local conditions.
Among the practical innovations associated with his work was the smokeless stove, designed as an alternative to conventional firewood stoves and aimed at improving household conditions while reducing smoke exposure.
Parameswaran was also closely associated with several landmark mass movements in Kerala and the wider country. His ideas and organisational interventions contributed to initiatives linked to the State’s literacy campaign, the People’s Planning process and the Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti, which played a major role in mass literacy campaigns across India.
He was among those instrumental in establishing the All India People’s Science Network (AIPSN), a national platform of people’s science organisations. He served as its secretary and later as its president.
His activism also acquired a national dimension following the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster. In its aftermath, he mobilised around 1,000 KSSP activists for the ‘Science Train’ campaign, which sought to stimulate public discussion on industrialisation, science and environmental safety.
A prolific writer, Parameswaran authored around 100 books and numerous articles in Malayalam and English. His writings covered an unusually broad spectrum, including nuclear energy, radioactivity, astronomy, mathematics, political science, ecology, education and development. Several of his works received awards and recognition.
His intellectual engagement with questions of development and politics, however, also brought him into conflict with the Communist Party of India (Marxist), of which he had been an active member.
His book Fourth World, which proposed an alternative social and economic order based on decentralised democracy, localised production and a rejection of excessive consumerism, sparked a major debate within the party.
The controversy eventually culminated in his expulsion from the CPM in February 2004 on charges of indiscipline and deviation from the party line.
Despite the political differences that marked the later phase of his association with the party, Parameswaran remained a prominent voice in debates on alternative development, scientific temper and environmental sustainability.
His career, spanning nuclear research, public science, social activism and political thought, made him an unusual bridge between the scientific establishment and grassroots movements.
His emphasis on applying science to everyday social problems and placing people at the centre of development influenced generations of activists, writers and public intellectuals.