Arjun Singh
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Arjun Singh, (Hindi: अर्जुन सिंह born November 5, 1930, Madhya Pradesh) is a veteran Congress (I) Leader. He is the Human Resources and Development (HRD) minister in the current Indian government headed by Dr. Manmohan Singh, the same post that he held in 1991 in the Narasimha Rao government from which he resigned & left Narsimha Rao led congress on Babri Masjid demolition controversy, he formed All India Indira Congress (Tiwari) with the support of now CM of Uttaranchal Narayan Dutt Tiwari as President. they lost 1996 Loksabha elections and the Congress too lost power at the center. Later he returned back to Congress and lost again from Hoshangabad in 1999. He got elected for Rajyasabha in April 2000 which he is continuing. He twice served as a minister in the Rajiv Gandhi government, and held the post of Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh three times & Governor of Punjab once for a short period. As Governor of Punjab worked for Rajiv-Longwal Accord for peace in Punjab. He was awarded the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award for the year 2000. He takes keen interest in social work and has been closely associated with various social and cultural organizations
Contents |
[edit] Achievements
- Set up a private legal practice in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh in 1954;
- leader of the independent group in the first elected Legislative Assembly of Madhya Pradesh for three years;
- Joined the Congress Party in 1960;
- Founder-President of the Cosmopolitan Institute of Public Affairs at Bhopal;
- Deputy Leader, Indian Delegation to the World Youth Congress held in Moscow in 1964;
- Convener, Madhya Pradesh Youth Congress from 1965¬70;
- Member, Indian Delegation to the United Nations in 1969;
- Represented India at the Human Rights Seminar organized by the United Nations in Belgrade (Yugoslavia) in 1970;
- Under his leadership, Madhya Pradesh became the first State to give lease-hold rights upon plots and lands to urban slum-dwellers;
- Pioneered a special training and emploYment Programme to improve the lot of the urban poor;
- Credited with the abolition of absentee ownership of cycle rickshaws
- The voluntary surrender of dacoits of the Chambal valley;
- Paved the way for the "Rajiv-Sant Longowal Pact" also known as "Punjab Accord";
- sworn in as Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh on 11 March 1985 and appointed as Governor of Punjab on the following day
[edit] Countries Visited
- France, led the Indian delegation to the 26th General Conference of the U.N .E.S.C.O., October 1991;
- China, led a high level Indian delegation, November 1992;
- Geneva, led the Indian delegation to the 43rd Session of the International Bureau of Education, November 1992;
- also visited U.S.A., U.S.S.R., Israel, Pakistan, Mauritius and U.K.
[edit] Positions Held
- 1957-85 Member, Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly M.L.A.
- Sept.1963-Dec.1967 Minister of State for Agriculture, General Administration Department (GAD) and Information & Public Relations, Government of Madhya Pradesh
- 1967 Minister of Planning and Development, Government of Madhya Pradesh
- 1972-77 Minister of Education, Government of Madhya Pradesh
- 1977-80 Leader of Opposition, Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly
- 1980-85 Chief Minister, Madhya Pradesh
- March - Nov. 1985 Governor of Punjab
- Nov. 1985 - Jan. 1986 Minister of Commerce, Government of India
- Dec.1985- June 1988 Member, Eighth Lok Sabha
- Oct. 1986 - Feb. 1988 Minister of Communications, Government of India
- 1988-91 Member, Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly
- Feb.1988¬ Jan. 1989 Chief Minister, Madhya Pradesh
- June 1991 - Dec. 1994 Minister of Human Resource Development, Government of India
- June 1991- May 1996 Member, Tenth Lok Sabha
- April 2000 Elected to Rajya Sabha
- 15 May 2000 - Feb. 2004 Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Home Affairs
- 31 August 2001- July 2004 Member, Committee on Rules
- April 2002 - Feb. 2004 Chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Purposes Committee
- 22 May 2004 onwards Minister of Human Resource
[edit] Appointed
- (i) Vice-President of the Indian National Congress, 19 January 1986,
- (ii) Member of the Congress Working Committee and Central Parliamentary Board,
- (iii) Member of the National Integration Council and its Standing Committee,
- (iv) Convener, All Party Committee on Punjab,
- (v) President, Pradesh Congress Committee (P.C.C.), Madhya Pradesh on 9 December 1989
- (vi) Working President of Indian National Congress (Indira) on 22 May 1995;
- (vii) elected to the Congress Working Committee at A.I.C.C. Session, Tirupati in April 1992 with the highest margin of votes and again in July 1997;
- (viii) attended the meeting of the Ministers of nine most populous developing countries in Paris, 1993;
- (ix) resigned from the Council of Ministers on 24 December 1994;
- (x) became Member of the Indian National Congress again in 1997;
- (xi) nominated as Chairman of Minority Department, AlCC in April 1999;
- (xii) Nominated Member of the Indo-Russian Parliamentary Friendship Group on 28 November 2001
 Arjun Singh |
 |
 |
 Arjun Singh |
[edit] Controversies
While Arjun Singh was the Chief Minister of India's Central state of Madhya Pradesh, he was involved in the scandal which was called by some the Churhat Lottery case in the 1980s, in which allegations, never proved, were levelled that he had helped set up a phony state lottery.[1]
His Karwa Dam palace has been differently assessed between 10 to 20 crore although he claims that it cost him only forty lakhs to build.[2].
After the Mumbai train bombings of 2006, he reportedly quoted at a Cabinet meeting the statements of a former judge of the Maharashtra High Court that an earlier attempt on the headequarters of the Hindu revivalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in Nasik had been a plot set into motion by the Sangh itself.[1]. This follows his denouncement of the Ekal Vidyalayas, one-teacher schools run for the benefit of the tribals of India by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad [3], as communal. [4]
[edit] Reservation Controversy
Additional controversy was created in 2005 by drafting the proposed 104th Amendment Bill to the constitution, which subsequently became the 93rd Amendment. According to this amendment, which has yet to pass the 'Basic Structure' test of constitutionality by the Supreme Court, all private unaided educational institutes could be asked by their State Governments to reserve seats for designated Other Backward Classes. In early 2006, Mr. Singh also sought to increase caste-based reservation quotas for the so-called Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the internationally reputed Indian Institutes of Technology and Indian Institutes of Management, along with other Indian central government run institutes of higher studies, from 22.5% to 49.5%, a measure which came under intense criticism by the press and by the anti-reservation student community.
The National Knowledge Commission, a body of academics and intellectuals who report directly to the Prime Minister on matters of educational policy, strongly opposed the move. Following a public statement by Singh questioning the Commission's members' knowledge of the Constitution, the NKC also strongly criticised him for what it described as his efforts to "obfuscate" the issue [5].
Arjun Singh plans to impose quotas not just in 32 Central institutions, but also in over 100 deemed universities. The proposed legislation will give the Government unprecedented power over even private unaided institutions - to regulate their fees, selection procedure, and also take punitive action [6].
He noted:
| “ | The UPA is entirely committed towards the cause of Muslims[2] | ” |
[edit] Timeline
| Preceded by Sunderlal Patwa |
Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh First Tenure 1980-1985 ndash; |
Succeeded by Motilal Vora |
| Preceded by Motilal Vora |
Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Second Tenure 1988-1989 – |
Succeeded by Motilal Vora |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Dismiss Arjun Singh, Antulay: BJP. NDTV (July 14, 2006). Retrieved on July 14, 2006.
- ^ Congress pushes for Dalit Muslim quota Press Trust of India - March 15, 2007
