Meira Kumar Biodata

Birth Name : Meira Kumar

Date of birth : 31/03/1945

Place of birth : Sasaram, Bengal Presidency, British India

Meira Kumar is an Indian politician and a five time Member of Parliament. She was born on March 31, 1945 at Sasaram, Bengal Presidency, British India to, 'Babu Jagjivan Ram' and 'Indrani Devi'. She is Spouse of 'Manjul Kumar', this pair having one son and two daughters named as 'Anshul'(Son), 'Swati' and 'Devangana'(Daughters). She was elected unopposed as the first woman Speaker of Lok Sabha on 3 June 2009. She was born on March 31, 1945 in Bihar, India.

Position Held

Meira Kumar elected to 8th Lok sabha in 1985

Member consultative committee

Ministry of external affairs in 1986-1989 & 1996-1999

General- Secretary All India Congress Committee 1990-1992 & 2002-2004

Re-elected to 11th Lok sabha in 1996

Member of public Accounts Comittee

Member of Committee on home affairs and its sub - Committee on Personal polociey on central para - military Forces 1996-1998

Member of joint committee on the empowerment of women and its sub - Committee on education and health programs for women

Re-elected to 12th Lok sabha 1998

Member of Committee on food and consumer affairs 1998-1999

Member of Committee on environment and Forest

Re-elected to 14th Lok sabha 2004

Union Cabinet Minister

Social justice and empowerment

Early Life

Meira Kumar was born in the Patna district in Bihar to the former Deputy Prime Minister and prominent dalit leader 'Babu Jagjivan Ram' and a freedom fighter 'Indrani Devi'. She went to Welham Girls School, Dehradun and Maharani Gayatri Devi Girls' Public School, Jaipur. She did her M.A, L.L.B, Educated at Indraprastha College and Miranda House, Delhi University. 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. She served as a Cabinet Minister in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment of Manmohan Singh's Congress led Government (2004–2009). In 1970, she joined the Indian Foreign Service and spent her life in many countries. She is a keen sportswoman and holds medals for rifle shooting. She is also a published author.

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. The Parliament Secretariat claimed that some news papers had misreported and created the impression that this was spent on holidays abroad. It clarified that the money was spent not by her alone but by the Parliamentary delegation which included several MPs from all political parties, and that each and every visit was for official business. In her official capacity, the Speaker has to lead Indian Parliamentary Delegations to the Conferences of the Inter- Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), of which India is a member, the statement said. However the 29 trips made in a mere period of 37 months is unprecedented and has been seen as sheer waste and misuse of public funds in context of a developing country like India.