Praful Patel
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Praful Patel (born February 17, 1957, Kolkata) is an Indian Member of Parliament. He currently holds the title of Minister of Civil Aviation.
Shri Patel graduated in Commerce prior to joining the family business with diverse interests in bidis, tobacco, pharmaceuticals, finance, real estate, and packaging. He is currently a partner in the "Ceejay Group".
Patel was elected as a member of the Lok Sabha at the youthful age of 34 years in 1991. He was elected three times consecutively to the 10th, 11th, and 12th Lok Sabha. In April 2000, Shri Praful Patel was elected to the Rajya Sabha.
Patel inherited his passion for politics and social service from his father, who was a senior leader of the Congress in Maharashtra, as well as a great philanthropist. The Patel family runs the "Gondia Education Society" in the Gondia district of Maharashtra. The Society imparts education to 80,000 students in all disciplines ranging from Arts, Commerce, Engineering, Law, Pharmacy, Information Technology, Computer Sciences, etc., paving the way for youngsters to become self-reliant.
Widely travelled, Patel is an active member of Young Presidents Organisation (YPO), a premier networking platform of young global business leaders committed to sharing their individual and collective resources.
Patel was inducted into the Union Cabinet in May 2004 as Minister of State for Civil Aviation with Independent Charge.
