Kamal Nath

Early life

Born in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. He is an alumnus of The Doon School, and a graduate of St. Xavier's College of the University of Calcutta.

Political career

Kamal Nath was first elected to the 7th Lok Sabha in 1980. He was re-elected to the 8th Lok Sabha in 1985, the 9th Lok Sabha in 1989, and the 10th Lok Sabha in 1991.

He was inducted into the Union Council of Ministers as Minister of Environment & Forests in June 1991. From 1995 to 1996 he served as union minister of State, Textiles (Independent Charge).

He was then elected to the 12th Lok Sabha in 1998 and the 13th Lok Sabha in 1999. From 2001 to 2004, he was the General Secretary of the INC. He was re-elected to the 14th Lok Sabha in the 2004 elections and served as Union Cabinet Minister of Commerce & Industry from 2004 to 2009.

On 16 May 2009 he again won the elections from his constituency for the 15th Lok Sabha and re-entered the Cabinet, this time as Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways. In 2011, as a result of a cabinet reshuffle Kamal Nath replaced Jaipal Reddy to take on his role as Minister of Urban Development. Jaipal replaced Murli Deora as minister of petroleum natural gas.

In October 2012, Nath was confirmed to the ministry of parliamentary affairs in addition to his current role as urban development minister.

In late 2012, Nath replaced Pranab Mukherjee to help the UPA government win a crucial debate on FDI retail. Nath also replaced rural development minister Jairam Ramesh as an ex-officio member of the Planning Commission in December 2012.

Political associations

Kamal Nath is a member of the INC (Indian National Congress) political party and served as general secretary from 2001–2004.

Nath has close ties with the Nehru–Gandhi family, being young friends and schoolmates with Sanjay at the Doon School, an independent boarding school located in Dehradun.

Business career

Kamal Nath serves as president of the board of governors for The Institute of Management Technology (IMT) a management institution.

He is Chairman of "Madhya Pradesh Child Development Council" and Patron to the Bharat Yuvak Samaj (Youth Wing of All India Bharat Seva Samaj).

Only Member of Parliament incident

From 4 June to 5 June 2014 Kamal Nath was the only member to have taken official oath as a member of parliament of the 16th Lok Sabha.He was made the ProTem Speaker of the newly elected Lok Sabha. The first day of the lok Sabha on which the Pro Tem Speaker administers the oath of all other elected member as the member of parliament was called off due to the Death of Union Cabinet Rural Development Minister Gopinath Munde. The House was adjourned after paying a tribute to Gopinath Munde and observing a two-minute silence. Since no other elected member had taken oath that day, they were not officially member of parliament.

Economic development

Kamal Nath is a strong proponent of economic development in India. At the World Economic Forum (WEF) Davos, Switzerland in 2011 Nath shared his views on improving market access for developing countries in the area of agriculture stating India's applied tariffs for exports in developed countries was very low. Nath claims that this is due to continued imports through schemes like EPCG (Export Promotion Capital Goods Scheme) where tariffs are not levied.

Competing in the world market

Nath disagrees with the Trade protectionist outlook displayed among struggling countries and considers it to be the wrong response to a financial crisis. He has pushed for stronger international cooperation in India, such as expanding on Indo-German relations. Nath stated for a mutually beneficial relationship with Germany to exist it must rely on using both countries' manufacturing strengths. He outlined focus areas of production including telecom, engineering, environmental technology, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and food processing, and renewable energy. Kamal Nath describes India's entrepreneurial spirit and the countries' potential for global commerce growth in his book India's Century.

Kamal Nath on infrastructure development

Nath emphasises the need for infrastructure development in India with projects like the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, a 90 billion dollars industrial development project. The DMIC proposes major expansion of infrastructure and industry and aims to develop an industrial zone across six states in India. Within the first five years of the project expectations are set at doubling employment potential, tripling industrial output, and quadrupling exports from the region.

Public–private partnership (PPP)

Kamal Nath advocates a PPP model on completing such ambitious projects like the DMIC and other infrastructure development projects. He references success with PPP models implemented in India's Metro operations.

Rice export accusations

In 2007, during Kamal Nath's tenure as Commerce minister, an Empowered Group of Ministers that included Nath, Pranab Mukherjee, and Sharad Pawar helped lift a ban on the export of non-basmati rice. It was alleged that PSUs involved in export of this rice to Africa outsourced the efforts to domestic private companies. It is claimed that the private companies made large profits while the PSUs reported small margins.

Radia tapes

Kamal Nath is mentioned in the Radia Tapes by Tarun Das, former head of the Confederation of Indian Industry. Das mentioned his support for Nath in the surface transport ministry before making statements that put Nath in a negative light. Das claimed that Nath could make money while conducting national service and could use the ministry as an ATM. In 2010, Das publicly apologized to Nath for these statements, describing his remarks as, "Irresponsible and unfortunate," and "Loose talk."

Alleged involvement in the Sikh Genocide (1984)

Kamal Nath was indicted by the Nanavati Commission on allegations that he was involved in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Only one witness, Mukhtiar Singh, testified to seeing Nath lead an armed mob that attacked and demolished a Gurudwara in Rakab Ganj. However, there was no evidence that he incited the crowd. In fact, one of the key witnesses, Indian Express Photographer Monish Sanjay Suri, stated that Kamal Nath tried to disperse the crowd, and there was no evidence that he encouraged violence during the riot. Several Sikhs were burned alive during the attack. Nath responded to the Commission, saying that he visited the Gurudwara later in the day to investigate the agitation and urge peace.

The Commission Report observed that Nath's testimony was "vague" and "not consistent with the evidence" and that his version of events was "A little of strange." However it disregarded the contradictions in his testimony, saying "It is also required to be considered that he was called upon to give an explanation after about 20 years and probably for that reason he was not able to give more details." In conclusion the Commission said, "In absence of better evidence it is not possible for the Commission to say that he had in any manner instigated the mob or that he was involved in the attack on the Gurudwara". Justice Nanavati further stated that "it would not be proper to come to the conclusion that Kamal Nath had in any manner instigated the mob."

Canadian Sikhs protested his visit to Toronto 23 March 2010.

On 6 April 2010 Sikhs for Justice a US-based human rights advocacy group along with two individuals Jasbir Singh and Mohinder Singh filed a lawsuit against Kamal Nath in the Southern District of New York for leading the mob that killed Sikhs and attacked Gurdawara Rakab Ganj in Delhi on 1 November 1984. The lawsuit was filed under Alien Torts Claim Act and Torture Victims Protection Act. US District Court issued summons to Kamal Nath asking him to respond to the complaint. Kamal Nath received summons and complaint the same day in the evening while he was in Manhattan, New York.

The court complaint was dismissed in March 2012 by Judge Robert Sweet of the US District Court Southern District of New York, against Nath, who stated that the court lacked jurisdiction in the case. The 22-page order granted Nath's motion to dismiss the claim, and the judge also noted that 'Sikhs for Justice' failed to "serve the summons and its complaints to Nath in an appropriate and desired manner."

Responsible for environmental damage

Kamal Nath was again embroiled in controversy in March 2002 when the Supreme Court, applying the polluter pays principle, imposed a fine of Rs10,00,000 (US$25,000) on Kamal Nath for damaging the environment by building a motel on the bank of Beas river near Kulu-Manali in the state of Himachal Pradesh. This act changed the course of the river and thus caused ecological imbalance in that area. The Supreme Court Bench held that Kamal Nath was liable to pay a fine of Rs1 million for causing damage to the sensitive ecology of the area by building Span Motel.

Awards and recognition

In 2006 Kamal Nath received an Honorary Doctorate from Jabalpur's Rani Durgavati University for his contributions to the public sector.

Kamal Nath was named the FDI Personality of the Year 2007 by the FDI magazine and the Financial Times Business for his "Active efforts to attract foreign businesses to India, boost exports, and promote trade and investment".

In 2008 he was honoured with the title "Business Reformer of the year" by The Economic Times.

In September 2011, he was declared to be the richest Cabinet minister in India with assets worth INR 2.73 billion (INR 2,730,000,000 or US$59 million).

In November 2012, he received the "ABLF Statesman Award" at the Asian Business Leadership Forum Awards 2012.

Personal life

He married Alka Nath on 27 January 1973 and has two sons.