Meira Kumar

Meira Kumar
Meira Kumar at Third World Conference of Speakers of Parliament
Speaker of Lok Sabha
Incumbent
Assumed office 4 June 2009
Preceded by	Somnath Chatterjee
Member of the Lok Sabha for Sasaram, Bihar
Incumbent
Assumed office 2004
Personal details
Born	31 March 1945 (1945-03-31) (age 66) Bihar, British India
Political party	Indian National Congress
Spouse(s)	Manjul Kumar
Children	1 son and 2 daughters
Residence	New Delhi, India
Alma mater	University of Delhi
Religion	Hindu
As of June 3, 2009 Source: [1]

Meira Kumar (born March 31, 1945) is an Indian politician and a five time Member of Parliament. She was elected unopposed as the first woman Speaker of Lok Sabha on 3 June 2009.^[1][2]

She is a lawyer and a former diplomat. Prior to being a member of the 15th Lok Sabha, she has been elected earlier to the 8th, 11th, 12th and 14th Lok Sabha, wherein she remained Cabinet Minister in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (2004–2009).

Early life

Meira Kumar was born in the state of Bihar District Patna to the former Deputy Prime Minister and prominent dalit leader, Babu Jagjivan Ram and freedom fighter, Indrani Devi.

She is an Ex-Banasthali student.

She did her M.A., LL.B, Educated at Indraprastha College and Miranda House, Delhi University.^[3]

Career

Foreign Service

In 1973, she joined the Indian Foreign Service and served at embassies in Spain, United Kingdom and Mauritius. She also served as a member of the India-Mauritius Joint Commission. While serving for IFS, she also worked in Embassy of India, Madrid from 1976 to 1977. She was at the High Commission of India in London from 1977 to 1979 and at Ministry of External Affairs from 1980 to 1985.

Political career

Meira Kumar entered electoral politics in 1985 and was elected from Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh defeating political heavyweights like Ram Vilas Paswan and Mayawati, two powerful dalit leaders. She was a member of the eighth, eleventh and twelfth Lok Sabha's from Karol Bagh in Delhi. She lost her seat in the BJP wave of 1999, but was able to get re-elected with a record majority from her father's former constituency of Sasaram in Bihar in 2004 and 2009.

She served in the Congress-led Government as the Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment from 2004 to 2009. In 2009 she was briefly inducted as member of the cabinet as Union Minister for Water Resources. On being nominated for the position of speaker, she submitted her resignation three days after assuming ministerial office. She was elected the Speaker of Lok Sabha, thereby becoming the first woman speaker of the country.

Personal life

Meira Kumar is married to Manjul Kumar, a Supreme Court lawyer and they have three children, Anshul, Swati and Devangna.

She is a keen sportswoman and holds medals for rifle shooting. She is also a published poet.

References

1. ^ India: Woman Wins Post of Speaker New York Times, June 4, 2009.
2. ^ Meira Kumar brings Jagjivan to fore The Times of India, June 4, 2009.
3. ^ Biography Lok Sabha

External links

• Meira favors reservation - Agarwal Today report
• Meira Kumar Biography Govt. of India Portal

Persondata
Name	Kumar, Meira
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	31 March 1945
Place of birth	Patna, Bihar, British India
Date of death
Place of death

eng : Meira Kumar