Sir Kanthiah Vaithianathan KBE CCS (1896-1965) (also spelt Vaidyanathan) was a Sri Lankan Tamil civil servant, politician, Member of the Senate

Senate of Ceylon

The Senate of Ceylon was the upper chamber of the parliament of Ceylon established in 1947 by the Soulbury Commission. The Senate was appointed/indirectly elected rather than directly elected. The Senate was housed in the old Legislative Council building in Colombo Fort and met for the first time...

 and government minister.

Career

Vaithianathan he had a long carrier in the Ceylon Civil Service

Ceylon Civil Service

The Ceylon Civil Service, popularly known by its acronym CCS, originated as the elite civil service of the Government of Ceylon under British colonial rule in 1833 and carried on after independence, until May 1, 1963 when it was abolished and the much larger Ceylon Administrative Service was...

. In 1947 he became the first Permanent Secretary

Permanent Secretary

The Permanent secretary, in most departments officially titled the permanent under-secretary of state , is the most senior civil servant of a British Government ministry, charged with running the department on a day-to-day basis...

 to the Ministry of External Affairs and Defence

Ministry of External Affairs and Defence

The Ministry of External Affairs and Defence was a ministry of the Government of Ceylon that conducted and managed all of Ceylon's relations with other countries and its military matters from 1947 to 1977.-History:...

 of independent Ceylon.

In 1952 Vaithianathan was appointed to the Senate of Ceylon and made Minister of Housing and Social Services. In 1953 he was also given the Industries portfolio following the resignation of G. G. Ponnambalam

G. G. Ponnambalam

Ganapathipillai Gangaser Ponnambalam , known as G.G. Ponnambalam, was a Sri Lankan Tamil politician in British Ceylon, and then after independence, in Ceylon. He founded the first Sri Lankan Tamil political party, the All Ceylon Tamil Congress. Ponnambalam stood for the principle of minority...

, Minister of Industries and Fisheries.

Family

His son Mahen Vaithianathan was one of the first diplomats of the Ceylon Overseas Service.