New Delhi: Soft-spoken but a firm pursuer of her social missions, India’s first woman Speaker, Meira Kumar combines many roles in one.
As the Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment in Dr Manmohan Singh`s previous government, she emerged as a strong votary of reservations and pressed for their extension in the private sector. She also wanted the government to offer a reward of Rs 50,000 for inter-caste marriages.
Besides being a Minister, she has served on various important posts in Parliament including as Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of External Affairs, General-Secretary, All India Congress Committee (AICC), Member, Congress Working Committee (CWC) and Public Accounts Committee.
Equipped with the wit of a lawyer and the charm of a poetess, Meira she has been actively participating in movements for social reforms and human rights.
Born to prominent Dalit leader and former Deputy Prime Minister, Jagjiwan Ram and freedom fighter Indrani Devi in 1945, she is law graduate and holds a Masters in English literature.
After joining the Indian Foreign Service in 1973 and serving at embassies in Spain, United Kingdom and Mauritius Meira entered the hurly burly of politics in 1985 when she contested Lok Sabha elections in Bijnore, UP, as a Congress candidate.
The entry was with a bang as she defeated emerging Dalit leaders Ram Bilas Paswan and Mayawati with a record margin. She became a member of the eleventh and twelfth Lok Sabha from Karol Bagh, New Delhi.
Though she lost her seat to the BJP in 1999, she was able to get re-elected from her father's former constituency of Sasaram in Bihar in 2004 to become a member of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh`s cabinet.
Meira Kumar is married to Manjul Kumar, a Supreme Court lawyer and they have three children, Anshul, Swati and Devangna.
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