Selja Kumari

Selja Kumari
Kumari Selja in 2011
Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment
In office May 2009 – May 2014
Preceded by	Meira Kumar
Succeeded by	Thawar Chand Gehlot
Constituency	Ambala
Personal details
Born	(1962-09-24) 24 September 1962 Chandigarh
Political party	Indian National Congress
Spouse(s)	Unmarried
Residence	Hissar, Haryana
Religion	Hinduism
As of 8 January, 2015

Selja Kumari (born 24 September 1962) is a member of the 15th Lok Sabha of India as a member of the Indian National Congress (INC) political party. She was the cabinet minister at the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in the United Progressive Alliance Government during the 15th Lok Sabha.^[1] She resigned in January 2014.^[2]

Early life

Selja Kumari was born in Chandigarh to the Dalit leader Chaudhary Dalbir Singh. She studied at the Convent of Jesus and Mary, New Delhi and did her M.A. and M.Phil. from Panjab University.^[3]

Political career

She began her political career in the Mahila Congress becoming its President in 1990. One of the senior most dalit leaders within the Congress party, she was elected to the 10th Lok Sabha in 1991 from Sirsa in Haryana. She was Union Minister of State for Education and Culture in the Narasimha Rao-led Congress government. Despite the Congress debacle in Haryana in 1996, she was re-elected to the 11th Lok Sabha.

Kumari Selja Presenting Certificate of Commendation to Dr. G. Dewan on First Chandigarh Crafts Mela

In 2004, she was elected to the Lok Sabha representing the Ambala constituency of Haryana. She was Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation in the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government.On 16 May 2009, she was once again re-elected from the same constituency, making this her second consecutive victory from Ambala and was given an elevation to Cabinet rank holding portfolios of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Culture.

Accusation

In March 2011, Union Tourism Minister Kumari Selja has been issued notices by the Punjab and Haryana High Court over a petition that has accused her of “forgery, criminal intimidation, fabrication and hatching a criminal conspiracy”. The petitioner, advocate B S Chahar, has alleged that Selja, who was “instrumental in instigating leaders and members of the Balmiki community against Jat leaders in Mirchpur case”, tried to save herself from a litigation by pressurising the undertrials and forcing them to sign “blank and non judicial papers”.^[4]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Selja Kumari.

• Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website

Cabinet of Manmohan Singh (2009-2014) Prime Minister: Manmohan Singh   Cabinet Ministers Agriculture Sharad Pawar Civil Aviation Ajit Singh Coal Shriprakash Jaiswal Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma Communications and IT Kapil Sibal Culture Chandresh Kumari Katoch Defence A. K. Antony Earth Sciences Jaipal Reddy External Affairs Salman Khurshid Finance P. Chidambaram Food Processing Industries Sharad Pawar Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad Heavy Ind. & Public Enterprises Praful Patel Home Affairs Sushilkumar Shinde Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Girija Vyas Human Resource Development Pallam Raju Labour and Employment Sis Ram Ola Law and Justice Kapil Sibal Mines Dinsha Patel Minority Affairs K. Rahman Khan New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi Parliamentary Affairs Kamal Nath Petroleum and Natural Gas Veerappa Moily Railway Mallikarjun Kharge Road Transport and Highways Oscar Fernandes Rural development Jairam Ramesh Science and Technology Jaipal Reddy Social Justice and Emp. Selja Kumari Steel Beni Prasad Verma Shipping G. K. Vasan Textiles Kavuri Samba Siva Rao Tribal Affairs Kishore Chandra Deo Urban Development Kamal Nath Water Resources Harish Rawat   Ministers of State (Independent Charge) Chemicals and Fertilizers Srikant Kumar Jena Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution K. V. Thomas Corporate Affairs Sachin Pilot Development of North Eastern Region Paban Singh Ghatowar Drinking Water and Sanitation Bharatsinh Madhavsinh Solanki Environment and Forests Jayanthi Natarajan Information and Broadcasting Manish Tewari MSME K. H. Muniyappa Power Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia Statistics and Programme Implementation Srikant Kumar Jena Tourism K. Chiranjeevi Women and Child Dev. Krishna Tirath Youth Affairs and Sports Jitendra Singh   Ministers of State Agriculture Charan Das Mahant, Tariq Anwar Civil Aviation K. C. Venugopal Coal Pratik Prakashbapu Patil Commerce and Industry Daggubati Purandeswari, E. M. Sudarsana Natchiappan Comm. & IT Killi Krupa Rani, Milind Murli Deora Corporate Affairs R. P. N. Singh Defence Jitendra Singh External Affairs E. Ahamed, Preneet Kaur Finance Namo Narain Meena, S. S. Palanimanickam Food Processing Ind. Charan Das Mahant Health and Family Welfare Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury, S. Gandhiselvan Home Affairs Mullappally Ramachandran, R. P. N. Singh Human Resource Development Jitin Prasada, Shashi Tharoor Information and Broadcasting S. Jagathrakshakan Labour and Employment Kodikunnil Suresh Minority Affairs Ninong Ering Parliamentary Affairs Paban Singh Ghatowar, Rajeev Shukla Petroleum and Natural Gas Panabaka Lakshmi, R. P. N. Singh New and Renewable Energy S. Jagathrakshakan Personnel, Public Griev. & Pensions V. Narayanasamy Planning Commission Rajeev Shukla Power K. C. Venugopal PMO V. Narayanasamy Railway Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, K. J. Surya Prakash Reddy Road Trans. & Highways Sarvey Sathyanarayana, Tushar Amarsinh Chaudhary Rural development Lal Chand Kataria, Pradeep Jain Aditya Shipping Milind Murli Deora Social Justice and Emp. Balram Naik, Manikrao Hodlya Gavit Textiles Panabaka Lakshmi Tribal Affairs Mahadeo Singh Khandela, Ranee Narah Urban Development Deepa Dasmunsi