Prime Minister Narendra Modi Preceded by Bhanu Pratap Singh Preceded by Krishna Tirath Succeeded by Varun Gandhi | Preceded by Varun Gandhi Name Maneka Gandhi Constituency Pilibhit Children Varun Gandhi | |
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Role Ministry of Women and Child Development Spouse Sanjay Gandhi (m. 1974–1980) Education Lady Shri Ram College for Women, The Lawrence School, Sanawar, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi Parents Amardeep Kaur Anand, Tarlochan Singh Anand Books The Penguin Book of H, The Penguin Book of H, Brahma's hair, The Complete Book of M, First Aid for Animals Similar People Sanjay Gandhi, Varun Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi | ||
I am shakti union minister maneka gandhi
Maneka Sanjay Gandhi (also spelled Menaka) (née Anand; born 26 August 1956, Delhi, India) is the Indian Union Cabinet Minister for Women & Child Development in the Government of PM Narendra Modi. She is also an animal rights activist, environmentalist, and widow of the Indian politician Sanjay Gandhi. She has been a minister in four governments, and has authored a number of books in the areas of etymology, law and animal welfare. Maneka Gandhi is a member of the Nehru-Gandhi Family.
Contents
- I am shakti union minister maneka gandhi
- Menaka Gandhi takes charge as Women and Child Development Minister
- Personal life
- Early life and career
- Activism
- Criticism
- Electoral history
- Positions held
- Awards
- References
Menaka Gandhi takes charge as Women and Child Development Minister
Personal life
Maneka was born in Delhi into a Sikh family. Her father was Indian Army officer Lt. Col. Tarlochan Singh Anand and her mother was Amteshwar Anand. She went to Lawrence School and later Lady Shri Ram College for Women. She subsequently studied German at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
She first met Sanjay Gandhi at a cocktail party thrown by Maneka's uncle Major-General Kapur to celebrate the forthcoming marriage of his son Veenu Kapur in 1973. Maneka eventually married Sanjay, the son of the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi one year later on 23 September 1974.
The Emergency saw the rise of Sanjay into politics and Maneka was seen with him almost every time on his tours as she helped him in campaigns. It is often said that during the Emergency, Sanjay Gandhi had total control over his mother and that the government was run by the PMH (Prime Minister House) rather than the PMO (Prime Minister Office).
Maneka Gandhi founded the news magazine Surya which later played a key role in promotion of the Congress party after its defeat in the 1977 election following the Emergency.
She went to court to fight an attempt by the government in power at the time to confiscate her passport and won a landmark decision on personal liberty. In the case of Maneka Gandhi v Union of India, the court found that "Democracy is based essentially on free debate and open discussion, for that is the only corrective of government action in a democratic setup."
She gave birth to a son in 1980 named Feroze after his paternal grandfather. Her mother-in-law added the name Varun. Maneka was just twenty-three years old and her son just 100 days old, when her husband, Sanjay, died in an air crash.
Early life and career
Maneka's relationship with Indira Gandhi gradually disintegrated after Sanjay's death and they would continually argue with one another. She was eventually forced out of 1,Safdarjung Road, the prime minister's residence after a fallout with Indira. She founded the Rashtriya Sanjay Manch along with Akbar Ahmed Dumpy. The party primarily focused on youth empowerment and employment. It won four out of five seats in the Elections in Andhra Pradesh.
Maneka Gandhi published 'The Complete Book of Muslim and Parsi Names', in recognition of her husbands Zoroastrian faith.
Maneka Gandhi contested the Amethi constituency from Uttar Pradesh for the 1984 general election for the Loksabha but lost to Rajiv Gandhi. In 1988, she joined V.P. Singh's Janata Dal and became the General Secretary. In November 1989 Gandhi won her first election to Parliament and became a Minister of State as the Minister for Environment.
Activism
Gandhi is a self-described environmentalist and animal rights leader in India. She has earned international awards and acclaim. She was appointed chairwoman of the Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA) in 1995. Under her direction, CPCSEA members carried unannounced inspections of laboratories where animals are used for scientific research were conducted.
She has filed Public Interest Litigations that have achieved the replacement of the municipal killing of homeless dogs with a sterilisation programme, the unregulated sale of airguns and a ban on mobile or travelling zoos. She currently chairs the Jury of International Energy Globe Foundation which meets annually in Austria to award the best environmental innovations of the year. She is a member of the Eurosolar Board and the Wuppertal Institute, Germany.
She started the organisation People for Animals in 1992 and it is the largest organisation for animal rights/welfare in India. Maneka Gandhi is also a patron of International Animal Rescue. While she is not a vegan, she has advocated this lifestyle on ethical and health grounds. She also anchored the weekly television program Heads and Tails, highlighting the suffering meted out to animals due to their commercial exploitation. She has also authored a book under the same title. Her other books were about Indian people names. She is a cast member for the documentary A Delicate Balance.
Criticism
Gandhi has often been criticized for her comments. In June 2017 on an online chat, she commented that men do not commit suicide. She received negative responses to the comment and spent the rest of the chat answering questions related to this, with chatters pointing out that 68% of the suicide cases reported in India were commited by men. In March 2017, she said that an early curfew for girls in hostels helped young women control their "hormonal outbursts" and received a backlash for the comment.