Nair Service Society

2021-10-01T07:14:49Z

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{{Short description|Caste based organisation in Kerala}}{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2013}}

{{Infobox organization
|image= NSS Head Quarters Main Gate Changanassery.JPG
|caption = NSS Headquarters Main Gate, Perunna
|map =[https://www.google.co.in/maps/place/Nair+Service+Society+Head+Office/@9.4394016,76.5428412,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x3b062674c6a283cf:0xc6ec0f75d87f1dce]
|motto =
|former_name = Nair Brithya Jana Sangham
|formation ={{Start date|df=yes|1914|10|31}}
|extinction =
|type = Caste-based organization
|status =
|purpose =
|headquarters =[[Perunna]], [[Changanassery]]
|language = [[Malayalam]]
|leader_title = General Secretary
|leader_name = [[Gopurathinkal Sukumaran Nair|G. Sukumaran Nair]]
|parent_organization =
|affiliations =
|remarks =
|name = Nair Service Society
|abbreviation = NSS
|founder = [[Mannathu Padmanabha Pillai]]
|location = [[Kerala]]
|region_served =
|membership =
|num_staff =
|num_volunteers =
|website = [http://www.nss.org.in/ nss.org.in]
}}
[[File:NSS Head Quarters Changanassery.jpg|thumb|NSS Headquarters in [[Changanassery]]]]
The '''Nair Service Society''' ('''NSS''') is an organisation created for the social advancement and welfare of the [[Nair]] community that is found primarily in the state of [[Kerala]] in Southern part of India. It was established under the leadership of [[Mannathu Padmanabha Pillai]].<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/nss-concerns-on-education-will-be-addressed-chandy/article6750059.ece |work = The Hindu Daily |date= 3 January 2016|title = NSS concerns on education will be addressed: Chandy}}</ref> 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]], [[Changanassery]] in Kerala. [[Gopurathinkal Sukumaran Nair|G. Sukumaran Nair]] is the present General Secretary.

The Society owns and manages many educational institutions, hospitals, hostels and agricultural estates.

==Origins==
[[File:Mannam Statue, Vaikom cropped.JPG|thumb|[[Mannathu Padmanabha Pillai]], social reformer, freedom fighter and the founder of the Nair Service Society]]

The Nair Service Society was formed on 31 October 1914<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nss.org.in/founder.html |title=Founder |publisher=Nair Service Society |access-date=7 May 2013}}</ref> as a reaction to perceived communal slights in the [[princely state]] of [[Travancore]] in southern India, which now forms a part of the state of Kerala.<ref name="Devika2010" /> At the time of formation, [[K. Kelappan]] 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.<ref name="JeffreyJSAS">{{cite journal |first=Robin |last=Jeffrey |title=The social origins of a caste association, 1875-1905: The founding of the S.N.D.P. Yogam |journal=South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies |series=1 |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=39–59 |date=1974 |doi=10.1080/00856407408730687}} {{subscription required}}</ref> Some Nairs had felt provoked by the rise to prominence of the [[Saint Thomas Christians]] 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.<ref name="Devika2010">{{cite book |first1=J. |last1=Devika |first2=V. J. |last2=Varghese |date=March 2010 |title=To Survive or to flourish? Minority rights and Syrian Christian assertions in 20th century Travancore |publisher=Centre for Development Studies |location=Trivandrum |url=http://cds.edu/download_files/wp427.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120526104825/http://cds.edu/download_files/wp427.pdf |archive-date=26 May 2012 |pages=15–17 |access-date=15 May 2017}}</ref>

The Nairs believed Travancore to be a Hindu state<ref name="Devika2010"/> 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.<ref name="FullerJAR">{{cite journal |title=The Internal Structure of the Nayar Caste |first=Christopher J. |last=Fuller |author-link=Chris Fuller (academic)|journal=Journal of Anthropological Research |volume=31 |issue=4 |date=Winter 1975 |pages=283–312 |publisher=University of New Mexico |jstor=3629883}} {{subscription required}}</ref>{{efn|The success of the NSS with regard to abolishing the subdivisions is moot: [[British Raj]] census reports of 1931 and 1941 varied in their interpretation of the available data and [[Chris Fuller (academic)|Christopher Fuller]], an [[anthropologist]], noted in 1975 that intermarriage between the various groups was "very rare". Fuller notes that "... many Nayars see the persistence of subdivisions within their community as a social and political problem, and they tend to deny their existence when outsidersask about them.<ref name="FullerJAR" />}} The first caste association of this type to have been formed in the region was the [[Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam]] (SNDP), established in 1903 to work for the benefit of the [[Ezhava|Ezhava community]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Communism in Kerala: a study in political adaptation |first=Thomas Johnson |last=Nossiter |publisher=University of California Press |year=1982 |page=30 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8CSQUxVjjWQC |isbn=978-0-520-04667-2 |author-link=Thomas Nossiter |access-date=2013-05-07}}</ref>

==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<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ammashowbengaluru.com/contact.html |title=Amma Show Bengaluru |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110208000515/http://www.ammashowbengaluru.com/contact.html |archive-date=8 February 2011 |access-date=15 May 2017}}</ref> and the ''Kanyakumari Nair Service Society'' with 27 Karayogams, {{citation needed|date=December 2015}} ''NSS Vidarbha'', which unites Nairs living in the [[Vidarbha]] region of [[Maharashtra]]. NSS is also having branches in [[Nagpur]], [[Chandrapur]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nssnagpur.com/network.html |title=Welcome to Vidarbha Nair Tharavadu: Setting up Organizational Network |access-date=15 May 2017}}</ref> and ''NSS of North America (NSSONA)'' with many Karayogams in North America.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nssona.org/index.php |title=Nair Service Society of North America |access-date=15 May 2017}}</ref>

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]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.indiavision.com/news/article/national/114726/|title=Global Nair organisation to be launched in Delhi Sunday|date=18 October 2010|work=IndiaVision News|access-date=19 January 2011|location=New Delhi}}</ref>

==Strength==
{{As of|2010}} the NSS comprised:<ref name=NSSorganisation />
* 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 [[Kerala]].<ref name=NSSorganisation>[http://www.nss.org.in/department/organization.htm 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 [[K. Kelappan]] who was the first president of NSS and [[K. P. Karunakara Menon]].

==See also==
* [[C. Krishna Pillai]]
* [[List of Nair Service Society educational institutions]]

==References==
'''Notes'''
{{notelist}}
'''Citations'''
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://nss.org.in/ Nair Service Society]

[[Category:Kerala society]]
[[Category:Organisations based in Kerala]]
[[Category:Nair]]
[[Category:Malayali organizations]]
[[Category:1914 establishments in India]]
[[Category:Changanassery]]

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Nair Service Society