MT, a legendary Malayalam writer who created timeless classics passes away at 91
Kozhikode (Kerala) (PTI): Noted writer and Jnanpith award winner MT Vasudevan Nair, who died here on Wednesday evening, is known for elevating the art of Malayalam storytelling to a profound level through his works.
Popularly known as MT, Vasudevan Nair is celebrated for his evocative storytelling, exploring human emotions and the complexities of rural life.
The 91-year-old writer had been hospitalised in critical condition with a diagnosis of heart failure and breathed his last on Wednesday.
He was suffering several health issues including respiratory ailments for a while, according to the literary sources.
M T is a celebrated writer, screenwriter, and filmmaker, renowned for his profound contributions to Malayalam literature and cinema.
Born in 1933 in Kudallur, a quaint village in Palakkad district, Kerala, M T, through more than seven decades of writing created a literary world that appealed equally to both ordinary people and intellectuals.
At the time, Kudallur was part of the Malabar district under the Madras Presidency of British India.
He was the youngest of four children born to T Narayanan Nair and Ammalu Amma.
His father worked in Ceylon (Sri Lanka), while M T spent his early years in Kudallur and at his paternal home in Punnayurkulam, a village in present-day Thrissur district.
M T's early life and surroundings deeply influenced his literary sensibilities.
He completed his schooling at Malamakkavu Elementary School and Kumaranelloor High School and graduated with a degree in chemistry from Victoria College, Palakkad, in 1953.
His professional journey began as a teacher and gramasevakan at a block development office in Taliparamba, Kannur, before he joined Mathrubhumi Weekly as a sub-editor in 1957.
Over the course of seven decades, he has authored nine novels, 19 collections of short stories, directed six films, wrote around 54 screenplays and several collections of essays and memoirs.
His novel Naalukettu (The Ancestral House) established him as a literary icon and is considered a classic in Malayalam literature.
Over the years, he authored several acclaimed works, including Asuravithu, Manju, and Kaalam, which earned him the Jnanpith Award in 1995, India's highest literary honour.
At the age of 25, he won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi award for his second novel, Naalukettu (1959), and a decade later, Kaalam, his fifth novel, earned him the Kendra Sahitya Akademi award.
M T made significant contributions to Malayalam cinema as a screenwriter and director.
His films, including 'Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha' and 'Kadavu', are regarded as masterpieces, showcasing his ability to merge compelling narratives with visual storytelling.
M T holds the distinction of winning the National Film Award for Best Screenplay a record four times, for 'Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha' (1989), 'Kadavu' (1991), 'Sadayam' (1992), and 'Parinayam' (1994), the most by any individual in Malayalam in this category.
M T has been married twice.
In 1965, he married writer and translator Prameela, but the couple separated after 11 years of marriage.
They have a daughter, Sithara, who works in the United States.
In 1977, he married Kalamandalam Saraswathy, a noted dance artist. They have a daughter, Aswathy Nair, who is a professional dancer.
His residence on Kottaram Road in Kozhikode is named after his elder daughter, Sithara.
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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