M. K. Prasad

M. K. Prasad (1932 – 17 January 2022) was an Indian environmentalist known for his grassroots level activism to protect tropical rainforests in the Indian state of Kerala. In the late 1970s, as a member of Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad, he led the Save Silent Valley movement, to prevent development of a hydroelectric project in the Silent Valley National Park, a project that would have flooded the rainforest.

He was a principal of the Maharaja’s College Ernakulam, Kochi, and pro vice chancellor of Calicut University. Earlier, as a part of KSSP, he had contributed to the national literacy mission which had resulted in his native Ernakulam district being declared the first fully literate district in the country.

Early life Prasad was born in an Ezhava family in Cherai on the island of Vypin in the coastal district of Ernakulam in present day Indian state of Kerala. He studied in the Rama Varuna Union High School, a school that was established by local Hindu and Christian community leaders.

Prasad joined the Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad (KSSP, ) in 1967. The organization was set up in 1962 as a publishing house focusing on publishing scientific magazines and journals. He wrote extensively for the organization's science journals before stepping in to set up the Ernakulam district unit for the organization. He initially wrote about the project's impacts in Sastragathi, a scientific journal published by KSSP, in 1977. He later led efforts, working with engineers, economists, and scientists, to draw attention to the environmental impact of the project. These efforts were followed by ground level activism including organization of street plays and other forms of protest across the state.

Prasad also contributed to efforts at KSSP towards the spread of literacy as a part of the national literacy mission. He was actively engaged in actions that resulted in Ernakulam being declared the first fully literate district in India in 1990.

Prasad was a member of the United Nations’ Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Board for a five-year tenure. In India, he chaired the Programme Advisory Committee of the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation's (MSSRF) Agro Biodiversity Centre, in Wayanad, Kerala and served as a member of the Governing Council of the Centre for Environment Education (CEE) and of the Kerala State Biodiversity Board.