How old is Malcolm Sathiyanathan Adiseshiah?
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Malcolm Sathiyanathan Adiseshiah (18 April 1910 – 21 November 1994), was an Indian development economist and educator. In 1976 he was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India, a civilian award given for "distinguished service of a high order...without distinction of race, occupation, position or sex." In 1998 the UNESCO created ‘The Malcolm Adiseshiah International Literacy Prize’ in recognition of his contribution to education and literacy.
Malcolm Adiseshiah
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Adisehsiah succeeded Prof. Lakdawala as Chairman of Institute of Social Sciences (ISS) and last presided over the Governing Body meeting on 11 November 1994. It was in the inaugural address to the seminar on Panchayati Raj in Karnataka in October 1985 at ISS that Adiseshiah made the following often quoted comment:
His life came to a quick end. He was hospitalized for less than a week with kidney and heart ailments. He was conscious till the last day. He died on 21 November 1994, aged 84 years.
Malcolm Adiseshiah
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Adiseshiah was born on 18 April 1910 in Vellore, southern India. He is the second of the five children of Paul Varanasi Adiseshiah and Grace Nesamma Adiseshiah. His father was professor of philosophy and the first Indian principal of Voorhees College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu State, India. His mother was a musician, who had studied up to the Senior Cambridge (High School) and was the first woman Councilor of the Vellore Municipality. She taught her five children until they were ten years of age. Malcolm Adiseshiah obtained a doctorate in economics at the London School of Economics, William, the eldest brother, in philosophy at Cambridge, Padmini in education and Noble in medicine.
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In January 1981, Adiseshiah was elected Chairman of the Governing Board of the UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) for a five-year period. In 1986 he was re-elected for a second term for five years. In 1987, 1991 and 1992 he was the Chairman of the jury for the selection of the international literacy prize winners. In 1989 he delivered the Presidential Address at the World Literacy Day function in Paris.
Malcolm Adiseshiah
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The "Emerald Jubilee Malcolm S. Adiseshiah Award" consisting of a gold medallion, a certificate and a shield, is given by the State Resource Centre, Chennai, every year to a district Collector who had made significant contribution for the rehabilitation of child labour and for imparting vocational education to improve their lot. Adiseshiah was the first president of the centre (an autonomous body under the Union Ministry of Human Resource) at its inception in 1973, and held the post for a decade. Dr. Malcolm Adiseshiah Award by the Tamil Nadu Board of Continuing Education and State Resource Centre for Non-Formal Education is given to a person in recognition of his contribution to Adult Education at a function in commemoration of the World Science Day. Dr. Malcolm Adiseshiah Award of Honour is also given by them for outstanding community service.
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He was president of the Viswayuvak Kendra. He was a member of the UGC Standing Committee on Adult Education. When the country launched the National Literacy Mission on 5 November 1988, Adiseshiah was the natural choice for its leadership. The Mission searched for an alternative agency and a strategy to create a country wide churning for literacy and created the Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samithi (BGVS) in August 1989 and invited Adiseshiah to be its President. BGVS facilitated the shift of the adult education from a government controlled, government sponsored programme to acquire a status of a mass movement. Adiseshiah had the satisfaction of witnessing the declaration of Ernakulam district in Kerala as having achieved the status of total literacy on 4 February 1990. The new premises of the State Resources Centre of the Tamil Nadu Board of Continuing Education was named after him and was declared open on his 83rd birthday on 18 April 1992.
Malcolm Adiseshiah
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Adiseshiah studied in Voorhees High School, where he obtained two double promotions. He completed his secondary school education at the age of thirteen to join Voorhees College for his ‘intermediate’ course (equivalent to +2 course now.) Then he shifted to Loyola College, Chennai for his BA (Honours), where Ramaswamy Venkataraman, the former President of India, was his classmate. After a six-year teaching interregnum at the St. Paul's Cathedral Mission College in Calcutta (now Kolkata), he proceeded to King's College, Cambridge for his MA (Banking) and then to the London School of Economics (1937–40) for pursuing his doctoral research with specialization in currency. Late Dr. R. N. Poduval, who served in FAO and then was Chairman of Centre for Research in Economic and Social Development, Chennai was two years his junior in LSE.
Malcolm Adiseshiah
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In September 1970 Adiseshiah and his wife Elizabeth registered in Paris a trust fund for starting Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS hereafter). MIDS was conceived to undertake studies and research on developmental issues on the economy, polity and society with special reference to Tamil Nadu state. MIDS started functioning from January 1971 in one of their properties in Gandhinagar, Adyar, a Chennai suburb. Adiseshiah was its first Director. Adiseshiah started publishing the publishing of ‘Bulletin – Madras Development Seminar Series’ in February 1971, and wrote its editorials every month from Feb. 1971 covering international, national and Tamil Nadu issues, until his death. ‘This surely’ wrote, Prof.S. Subramanian, in the prolegomena of the special issue of the Bulletin bought out after his demise, ‘is the stuff of which archives are made’10
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Adiseshiah was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in April 1978 for a six-year term as one of the twelve persons under the category of those having special knowledge and practical experience in literature, science, art and social service. There were rapid changes in the composition of the central government during his term. He eschewed party politics. His erudition and experience was appreciated and his speeches, mainly on economics and education, were listened to with respect. They were interspersed with homely proverbs and quotations. He urged quick redistribution of land. He recommended imposition of income tax on rich peasants. He pleaded for a level playing field and opposed special concessions to non-resident Indians, when they invested in India. He longed for larger two-way traffic between the Central and State Planning Commissions. He advocated a national energy policy. He opposed the nationalization of sick mills in the private sector. In education, he was opposed to haphazard expansion and steadfastly stood for consolidation. He provided a strong voice for teachers. As a humanist, he was deeply concerned with reduction of poverty, especially in the rural areas. He showed his courage to dissent when the occasion demanded. He provided a distinguished example of, a role model for, what a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha should be.
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Adiseshiah married Helen Paranjothi, with whom he had a son and a daughter. The separation process with Helen Paranjothi started in 1946 and the annulment of the marriage came in 1956. Adiseshiah then married Elizabeth Pothen, a history professor who he met at the Madras Women’s Christian College.
Malcolm Adiseshiah