Thiruvananthapuram: Veteran CPI leader and former minister E. Chandrasehkharan Nair died here on Wednesday morning.
The CPI leader was admitted to Sree Chitra Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) after he developed chest congestion. He was 89. He is survived by wife Manorama Nair, daughter Gita and son Jayachandran.
His body will be received by CPI leaders at the Sri Chitra Thirunal Medical Centre mortuary at 9 am on Friday and will be brought to party state headquarters M N Smarakam at 9.30 am and kept there for the party workers and the public to pay tributes. It will then be taken to his residence at Pandits Colony, Kawdiar at 12 noon. Cremation will take place at Shantikavadom at 3 pm.
Nair was first elected to Kerala Assembly in 1957 when the first communist government led by late E M S Namboodiripad took office. As food and civil supplies minister, he played a crucial role in strengthening the much-acclaimed public distribution system of the state.
Maveli Stores chain was perhaps the first of its kind initiative in the country aimed at providing quality essential commodities at reasonable rates. There were several path-breaking steps taken by him for market intervention and price control.
A six time legislator, Nair was elected to Assembly in 1957, 1967, 1977, 1980, 1987 and 1996. However, after his last stint as minister in E K Nayanar Cabinet in 1996 when also held the portfolios of food and civil supplies, law and tourism, he bid goodbye to active politics.
In 1980 he took the initiative to open Onam festival markets across the state to check prices of essential commodities during festival season. Following the success of festival markets, Chandrashekharan Nair went for Maveli Stores which became a big success.
Nair became member of the communist party in 1952. He was a member of Select Committee of the Land Reforms Bill during the first Assembly in 1957.
Known as the patriarch of cooperative movement in the state, he spent four decades of his public life for the development of this sector. He was the only non official member of the Reserve Bank of India panel for constituting National Rural Development Bank (NABARD). Nair was instrumental in constituting Kerala Farmers Service Cooperative Banks.
