The Nair Service Society (NSS) is an organisation created for the social advancement and welfare of the

Nair The Nair , also known as Nayar, are a group of Indian Hindu castes, described by anthropologist Kathleen Gough as "not a unitary group but a named category of castes". The Nair include several castes and many subdivisions, not all of whom histor ...

community that is found primarily in the state of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

in Southern part of India. It was established under the leadership of

Mannathu Padmanabha Pillai Mannathu Padmanabhan (2 January 1878 – 25 February 1970) was an Indian social reformer and freedom fighter from the south-western state of Kerala. He is recognised as the founder of the Nair Service Society (NSS), which represents the Na ...

. The NSS is a three-tier organisation with Karayogams at the base level, Taluk Unions at the intermediate level and a central headquarters operating from

Perunna Perunna aka Perunnai is a suburb of Changanassery town in Kottayam District, Kerala, India. The nearest big city, Kottayam, is 21 km away from Perunna. Perunna is also located at the intersection of MC Road (SH1) and Alappuzha-Changanass ...

Changanassery Changanassery or Changanacherry is a municipal town in Kottayam district in the state of Kerala, India. History The first recorded history on the origin of Changanacherry is obtained from Sangam period literature. According to Sangam era d ...

in Kerala. G. Sukumaran Nair is the present General Secretary. The Society owns and manages many educational institutions, hospitals, hostels and agricultural estates.

Origins

The Nair Service Society was formed on 31 October 1914 as a reaction to perceived communal slights in the

princely state A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Raj, British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, ...

Travancore The Kingdom of Travancore ( /ˈtrævənkɔːr/), also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor, was an Indian kingdom from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. At ...

in southern India, which now forms a part of the state of Kerala. At the time of formation,

K. Kelappan Koyapalli Kelappan (24 August 1889 – 7 October 1971) was an Indian politician, independence activist, educationist and journalist. During the Indian independence movement, he was the lead figure of Indian National Congress in Kerala and was p ...

was the president and Mannathu Padmanabhan was the secretary. Nairs were the most economically and socially dominant community, as well as the most numerous, in what was traditionally a staunchly Hindu kingdom that rigorously and officially enforced distinctions between castes. Some Nairs had felt provoked by the rise to prominence of the

Saint Thomas Christians The Saint Thomas Christians, also called Syrian Christians of India, ''Marthoma Suriyani Nasrani'', ''Malankara Nasrani'', or ''Nasrani Mappila'', are an ethno-religious An ethnoreligious group (or an ethno-religious group) is a grouping of ...

during the era of British rule and whose members were being elected as chairs of various official bodies during a period when the political systems were being modified. The Nairs believed Travancore to be a Hindu state and the founders of the NSS believed that their own community could only counter the changing socio-political situation if it presented a united front and did away with its internal social subdivisions. The first caste association of this type to have been formed in the region was the

Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam The Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (S.N.D.P) is a social service organization that has been representing the Ezhava community from the Indian state of Kerala since 1903. The S.N.D.P Yogam was founded by Dr.Padmanabhan Palpu and other E ...

(SNDP), established in 1903 to work for the benefit of the Ezhava community.

Branches

Expatriate Nairs both in other states of India as well as in foreign countries have formed Nair Service Societies in their states and countries of domicile. Examples are ''Karnataka Nair Service Society'' with 30 Karayogams and the ''Kanyakumari Nair Service Society'' with 27 Karayogams, ''NSS Vidarbha'', which unites Nairs living in the

Vidarbha Vidarbha (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, �id̪əɾbʱə is a geographical region in the east of the Indian state of Maharashtra and a Proposed states and union territories of India#Maharashtra, proposed state of central India, comprising th ...

region of

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

. NSS is also having branches in

Nagpur Nagpur (pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nag ...

Chandrapur Chandrapur (earlier known as ''Chanda'', the official name until 1964) is a city and a municipal corporation in Chandrapur district, Maharashtra state, India. It is the district headquarters of Chandrapur district. Chandrapur is a fort city ...

and ''NSS of North America (NSSONA)'' with many Karayogams in North America. In 2010 October, Nair organisations from around the world decided to form a united body. As a result, the ''Global Nair Service Society'' was founded after a meeting attended by thousands in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

Strength

the NSS comprised: * Taluk Unions : 58 * Karayogams (village/urban communities) : 5300 * Vanitha Samajams : 4232 * Bala Samajams : 2466 NSS has also started many schools under its supervision directly and also under many of its units like Taluk Unions and Karayogams. Collectively named NSS HSS or NSS High Schools, these schools function in almost all parts of the state of

.nss.org.in - The Official Website of Nair Service Society
/ref> The official organ of the organization is a bi-weekly named 'SERVICE' - which has completed its 100 years in 2019.

Officers

Past presidents include

who was the first president of NSS and

K. P. Karunakara Menon K. P. Karunakara Menon (1930–2002) was the president of Nair Service Society till his death in 2002. He was succeeded by Sri. P. V. Neelakanta Pillai. Menon, who hailed from Thrissur was one of the few Nair outside Travancore to become the presi ...

References

Notes Citations {{Reflist

External links