N. R. Pillai
| N R Pillai | |
|---|---|
| 1st Secretary of the Cabinet 1st Cabinet Secretary of India |
|
|
In office 1950–1953 |
|
| Prime Minister | Jawaharlal Nehru |
| Preceded by | Null |
| Succeeded by | Y.N.Sukthankar |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Narayanan Raghavan Pillai July 24, 1898 Trivandrum, Travancore State (now in Kerala, India) |
| Died | March 31, 1992 (aged 93) Kensington, London, England, United Kingdom |
| Nationality | Indian |
Sir Narayanan Raghavan Pillai, of Elenkath KCIE, CBE, ICS (N R Pillai) (24 July 1898 - 31 March 1992), popularly known as "Rag" was an Indian civil servant who was the second Secretary General in the Ministry of External Affairs, as well as the first Cabinet Secretary in independent India, a post he held from February 6, 1950 until May 13, 1953. He also served as India's Ambassador to France.
Sir Raghavan was born in Trivandrum, Travancore State (now Kerala) on 24 July 1898, in a distinguished ancient Nair family of Elankath in South Travancore. He was a matrilineal descendant of Dewan Nanoo Pillai. Elankom Gardens in Diamond Hill, Trivandrum is named after the family's town house. He read English and became a Bachelor of Arts first-class honours in 1918 from Madras University, subsequently receiving a government scholarship to study at Trinity Hall, Cambridge University. There, he took the Tripos in Natural Sciences in 1921 and a Tripos in Law in 1922, both times with first-class honours.
Joining the Indian Civil Service in 1922, Sir Raghavan initially served in the Central Provinces as an assistant commissioner and as an officiating deputy commissioner from March–November 1927. During his career with the ICS, Sir Raghavan was appointed to various secretarial positions in the then United Provinces. He successively served as an assistant collector of customs at Chennai (December 1927-May 1929) and as deputy director of commercial intelligence at Kolkata (May 1929-March 1932). He was promoted to deputy secretary in March 1932, joining the Commerce Department. He was advanced to temporary joint secretary (June 1934) and to joint secretary (officiating) in February 1936, being appointed collector at Karachi in April 1936. From April 1937, he was an officer on special duty with the Commerce Department, and was appointed as a deputy commissioner in July. He was promoted to joint secretary in the Commerce Department in April 1938, to additional secretary in February 1941 and finally to full secretary in October 1942.
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