| Meera H Sanyal | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | 15 October 1961 Kochi, India |
| Residence | Mumbai, India |
| As of 30 March, 2009 Source: Official website of Meera Sanyal |
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Meera H Sanyal (Indian, born 15 October 1961) is a banking professional in India,[1] who was an Independent candidate in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls from the Mumbai South Constituency. She is the President of the Indian Liberal Group, Liberals for Good Governance a Group of Active Citizens working towards Good Governance in India.
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Meera is the daughter of late Vice Admiral (retd.) G M Hiranandani, a gallantry award winner and author of several publications on Indian Naval history, he had also served in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). Meera studied in Fort Convent in Mumbai, Loreto Convent, Delhi and completed her schooling at Cathedral & John Connon, Mumbai. She graduated with a B.Com degree from Sydenham College, Mumbai and then went to France for an MBA at INSEAD. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of bankers UK, and in 2006 completed an Advanced Mangaement Program at Harvard Business School.
A professional banker since 1984, Meera is the Chairperson and Country Executive for RBS) in India. Prior to this, she was the Chief Operations Officer for the Asia Pacific. In 2001, she set up ACES, the bank's Global Shared Services company. In 1992 she joined the bank to head up its Investment banking division from Lazards.
Through the activities of the RBS Foundation, which Meera chairs, several projects that aim both to alleviate poverty and conserve biodiversity (especially in endangered tiger habitats), as well as promote watersheds and sequester carbon through working with tribals and marginal farmers in degraded land areas have been undertaken.
In recognition of her initiatives on Financial Inclusion & Sustainability, she has been appointed the Chairperson of FICCI's Financial Inclusion Committee and nominated to TERI's Business Sustainability Council
Meera has a deep interest in education and skill development and serves on the National Advisory Board of AIESEC India, and is a Board Member of Jaihind College in Mumbai.
In Sept 2011, she was invited by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to join her International Council of Women Business Leaders, which focuses on the economic empowerment of women for global economic prosperity and which meets annually at the State Dept in Washington DC.
In 2009, Meera's decision to stand as an independent candidate from South Mumbai attracted considerable national and international media attention. Standing against two sitting MP's (Congress Petroleum Minister Murli Deora's son Milind and Shiv Sena's Mohan Rawale) and 18 other candidates, she became a symbol for the "new clean" politician that many Indians aspired to vote for.
On being asked her reasons for this step, she stated that as a citizen of India and a resident of Mumbai, she had witnessed the steady decline of the city in spite of it being a treasure trove of talent and entrepreneurship. She said that she believed with good Governance Mumbai could easily become the world class city that it has the potential to be. The traumatic events in Mumbai and the failure of the state to respond cemented her resolve and take the decision to fight the 2009 General Elections from the constituency of Mumbai South.
Though she lost, her campaign inspired many others to believe that they could and should participate in the democratic electoral process if they wished to bring about change in India.
Post the election, Meera resumed her Banking Career but retains a keen interest in Public Policy & Governance, Financial Inclusion & Women's empowerment. She heads the Indian Liberal Group - Liberals for Good Governance, a not for Profit Organisation, that provides a platform for like minded Indian Liberals and Active Citizens to work within their local communities to improve the quality of life and state of Governance.