whispers in the corridors
V. M. M. Nair, the longest surviving Indian Civil Service (ICS) officer of Bihar and Odisha cadre of 1942 batch will celebrate his 100th birthday on October 8, 2019. He is now India’s senior-most civil servant and the doyen of the civil services in India.
Ambassador V M M Nair belongs to the 1942 batch of the Indian Civil Service and was selected in 1946 for the Foreign and Political Department of the Government of India, by then Viceroy Field Marshal Wavell.
Nair is also the only surviving member of the Indian Political Service and, after independence who joined the Indian Foreign Service, and served in and headed India’s missions for over two decades in Egypt, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Norway, Poland, Morocco (accredited to Tunisia as well), and Spain.
The 1942 ICS batch is unique, as it was the last ICS batch recruited in UK. It was the smallest UK batch of the ICS ever recruited. It had only two recruits from the UK, both Indian candidates, and no UK (European) members.
There were other 1942 batch ICS members recruited in India, such as the late K. Balachandran ICS (Assam), a former Secretary to the President of India who was Nair’s brother-in-law.
Nair was one of two such UK recruits, and the other recruit Chandra Prakash Gupta, ICS (UP) quit the ICS prematurely in the late 1960s after having been the Establishment Officer to the Government of India.
A unique coincidence is that both Nair and Gupta were born on the same day. Nothing is known about Gupta, though his birth centenary is approaching as well.
Nair, MA (Madras), MA (Oxon.), MA (Cantab.), Bar-at-Law, is one of very few Indians to have belonged to three superior services: ICS, pre-1947 IPS (Political) and post-1947 IFS (Foreign).
He belongs to an illustrious family, and his father Chettur Karunakaran Nair was a District Superintendent of Police in pre-independence Madras Presidency and his uncle Sir Chettur Madhavan Nair (a son-in-law of Sir Chettur Sankaran Nair) was a member of the Privy Council, another of his uncle Diwan Bahadur Chettur Govindar Nair who was Law Secretary of Orissa before independence, and an uncle Chettur Krishnan Nair was Public Prosecutor in Madurai before independence.
Nair resides in New Delhi with his wife.
Send Feedback
- RailTel signs MoU with InoviTel (PTY) LTD and Tsiko Africa Energy & Infrastructure (UPDATED)
- Nirmal Kumar is Secretary, Bihar University Public Service Commission (UPDATED)
- Santosh Tewari is also DDGF(C), RO, MoEF&CC, Chandigarh (UPDATED)
- REC signs agreement with CVPPPL for ₹1869 cr term loan for Kiru 624MW Hydro Project
- Krishna Murari appointed Professor (Public Procurement), IRITM
- AK Gupta appointed PCMM (PHOD), Metro Railway
- SP Dwivedi appointed PCMM (PHOD), NCR
- Ms Sharma appointed FA & CAO (Traffic & Capex Management), Northern Railway
- Rajeev Agrawal as ADRM IZN extended
- Prasad transferred to SWR to officiate in SA Grade
- Two ITS officers join DoT Hqs
- 21 ITS Group ‘A’ officer promoted to HAG
- Ms Meena transferred to NFR
- 30 candidates shortlisted for AYUSH department
- Last date to apply for CAPF is May 14
- 32 ITS officers promoted to SAG
- 11 SAG level ITS officers get new postings
- PS Shami appointed Special DG (Vendor Development), RDSO
- PESB in search of a candidate for CMD, Troop Comforts Limited
- Pankaj Salodia repatriated from MIB
- 53 ITS officers promoted
- Fresh one-year term recommended for Justice WS Nargal
- Fresh one-year term recommended for Justice R Agrawal
- Fresh one-year term recommended for Justice WS Nargal
- Justice RM Pandey recommended as Judge, Chhattisgarh HC
- 169 officers in SBI to be promoted to DGM grade
- Dharmendra Yadav appointed as CVO, NMC
- Manoj Kumar appointed as CVO, JNPA
- Ms Rashmita Jha appointed as CVO, NTPC
- Sumit Bhatnagar quits Railways
- S K G Rahate, Secretary Justice retiring this month
- 39 students inducted in Indian Naval Academy
- RBI Dy Governor Sankar gets extension
- Rana Ashutosh Kumar Singh recommended for the post of MD, SBI
- Asheesh Pandey recommended for MD & CEO, Indian Bank
- Vice Admiral Krishna Swaminathan to be Vice-Naval Chief?