G. P. Pillai

Govinda Paramaswaran Pillai was a statesman, judge and administrator, during pre- and post-Independent India. He was born in 1890 in Neyyattinkara, Travancore in Kerala, India.

He attended college at the Maharaja's College, Travancore. In 1913, he graduated in Law, following which he enrolled as a barrister in Trivandrum. He married Bhargavi Amma, the daughter of the Chief Justice of Travancore High Court, Raman Thampi Esq. and Kunjukutty Amma. Details of his Legislative experience are recorded in the Legislative records of the period, now maintained by the State of Kerala. It is reported that he was mainly responsible for the reforms in the Nair social customs through the Nair Regulation Act. He was considered an authority on constitutional matters and was deputed to India's Round Table Conference in London, as a constitutional expert in the delegation led by Mahatma Gandhi. He worked in close association with Sardar Patel, V. P. Menon and other leaders of the time during the transition to Independence of India and negotiated with the Federal Government on behalf of the Maharaja of Travancore (Instrument of Accession). In independent India, GP served as her first Trade Commissioner to Australia and New Zealand. He also served as a Director of the Reserve Bank of India and established the Co-operative Bank.

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