P. Gopinathan Nair

Padmanabha Pillai Gopinathan Nair (7 July 1922 – 5 July 2022) was an Indian social worker, Gandhian, independence activist, and the chairman of Mahatma Gandhi National Memorial Trust (popularly known as Gandhi Smarak Nidhi).

He participated in the Quit India movement of 1942 and worked alongside Vinoba Bhave to promote the Bhoodan and Gramdan movements. He was the initiator of the camp movement, a student program that was part of the Construction Movement of Mahatma Gandhi. He was a recipient of the Jamnalal Bajaj Award, among other honors. The Government of India awarded him the fourth-highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2016, for his contributions to society.

Early life and education Gopinathan Nair was born on 7 July 1922 to M. Padmanabha Pillai and K. P. Janaki Amma in Neyyattinkara, a town in the southern part of Thiruvananthapuram district of the south Indian state of Kerala. In 1944, he founded the Trivandrum Students Settlement movement with 35 students, inspired by the Construction movement of Mahatma Gandhi. In 1946, he became the Chief Tattwa Pracharak of the Kerala Gandhi Smarak Nidhi and conducted several courses for his colleagues as well as other students. When Vinoba Bhave visited Kerala as a part of his Padayatra, Nair organized a meeting in Kalady. Nair also became associated with Shanti Sena and was involved in many of its activities. He was reported to have been a mediator during the Naxalite insurgency in Kilimanoor in 1970, the Hindu-Muslim communal riots in Thalassery, the East Bengali refugee crisis of 1971, and the Kuttanad Peace Project of 1971 to 1976. He also served as the chair of the Sarva Seva Sangh in 1989 was associated with Gandhi Smarak Nidhi in various positions. He held the post of the secretary of the Kerala chapter from 1980 to 1982, then became head of the chapter in 1999. and a president of the All India Sarva Seva Sangham, Varanasi (6 years) and Sevagram, Wardha (11 years). and a member of the Sree Uthradam Thirunal Institute Of Culture, Thiruvananthapuram.

Personal life and death Nair was married to L. Saraswathi Amma, a retired State Women's Welfare officer, Nair died from a heart attack at a private hospital in Neyyattinkara on 5 July 2022, two days before his 100th birthday. He suffered from post-COVID-19 health complications and age-related ailments prior to his death. He was selected for the Jamnalal Bajaj Award in 2005 in recognition of his constructive social service. the University of Kerala felicitated him on 24 April 2012, when he was elected as the national president of Gandhi Smarak Nidhi.

The Government of India awarded him the civilian honor of the Padma Shri in 2016, though the original recommendation of the state government was for the higher award of the Padma Bhushan.

Noorul Islam Civil Service Academy of the NIMS Charity Trust, where he was the patron, was renamed as P. Gopinathan Nair Civil Service Training Academy in his honor in 2011, in connection with his 90th birthday celebrations. His life has been documented in a 30-minute documentary film, directed by Rajan V. Pozhiyoor, the secretary of Thikkurissi Foundation and produced by the Media Research Institute, Thiruvananthapuram. His biography has also been published under the title, Gandhian Karmapadhangalil (Along the Gandhian Paths).