soon after the death of jawaharlal nehru, who was the first president of the sahitya akademi, mulk raj anand proposed that nehru be elected as a fellow of the akademi posthumously. this proposal was rejected, and the akademi took the view that fellowships would only be conferred upon living writers. the general council has, as a practice, refrained from electing its own members for the fellowship, although there have been instances of members of the general council become fellows after their term on the council ends. a significant exception to this practice is the appointment of d. jayakanthan as a fellow while he was serving on the council.