Renuka Chowdhury

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Renuka Chowdhury
Image:Renukac.jpg
MP, Minister of State for Women and Child Development
In office 29 January, 2006 - present
Constituency	Khammam

Born	13 August 1954(1954-08-13) Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh
Political party	Indian National Congress
Spouse	S. Chowdhury
Children	2 daughters
Residence	Hyderabad
As of May 1, 2008 Source: [1]

Renuka Chowdhury is an Indian politician and the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Women and Child Development in the Government of India since January 2006.^[1]

[edit] Political career

A post-graduate in Industrial Psychology from Karnataka University, Bangalore, she entered politics in 1984 as a member the Telugu Desam Party. She was a member of the Rajya Sabha for two consecutive terms, from 1986 to 1998. During that period, she was the Chief Whip of the Telugu Desam Parliamentary Party. In 1998, she left the TDP to join the Congress party. She has been a member of the Congress party since then. In 1999 and 2004, she was elected to the 13th and 14th Lok Sabha respectively representing Khammam. She was also the Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare from 1997 to 1998 in the cabinet of H. D. Deve Gowda. Other important positions held by her include memberships of the Committee on Finance (1999-2000) and Committee on the Empowerment of Women (2000-2001). When the the Manmohan Singh led United Progressive Alliance ministry was formed in May 2004, she became Minister of State for Tourism. From 29 January, 2006 onwards she took charge as Minister of State for Women and Child Development.^[1]