Party Name : Indian National Congress
Constituency : Mayiladuturai
State : Tamil Nadu
Member Experience : Elected to Loksabha 3 time
Last Loksabha Attended : 14
Father's Name : Late Shri V. Sankar Aiyar
Mother's Name : Late Smt. Bhagyalakshmi Sankar Aiyar
Date of birth : 10 Apr 1941
Profession : Writer Social Worker, Trade Unionist
Positions held :
1991 Elected to 10th Lok Sabha1991-92 Member, Committee on Environment and Forests1992 Elected to All India Congress Committee (AICC)1992-96 Member, Committee on Human Resource DevelopmentMember, Committee on External Affairs1998 Secretary, All India Congress Committee1999 Elected to 13th Lok Sabha (2nd term)1999-2004 Member, Committee on Urban and Rural Development2002-2004 Member, Committee on Public Undertakings2004 Re-elected to 14th Lok Sabha( 3rd term)23 May 2004-28 Jan. 2006 Union Cabinet Minister, Petroleum & Natural Gas; Panchayati Raj29 January 2006- onwards Union Cabinet Minister of Panchayati Raj and Minister of Youth Affairs & Sports and Minister of Development of North Eastern Region6 April 2008 onwards Minister, Panchayati Raj and Minister of Development of North Eastern Region
More Information :
Books Published
(i) "Remembering Rajiv", Rupa, New Delhi, 1992; (ii) "One Year in Parliament", Konark, New Delhi, 1993; (iii) "Pakistan Papers", UBSPD, New Delhi,1995; and (iv) "Rajiv Gandhi`s India", 4 vols. (General Editor), UBSPD, New Delhi, 1997
Literary, Artistic & Scientific Accomplishments
Eminent columnist and contributor to various newspapers and periodicals, in India and abroad
Special Interests
Reading, writing and music
Sports and Clubs
Member, Delhi Gymkhana Club and India International Centre, New Delhi
Countries Visited
Widely travelled, went on several delegations abroad while in the Indian Foreign Service
Other Information
Founder President, Society for Secularism; Member, Indian Foreign Service, 1963-89; Consul-General, Karachi, 1978-82; Joint Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, 1982-83; Special Assistant to former Congress (I) President, Late Shri Rajiv Gandhi, 1989-91; Trustee, Rajiv Gandhi Foundation; Member, Governing Council, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Contemporary Studies; Member, Court, Visvabharati, 1991-96; Member, Court, Aligarh Muslim University, 1991-96; Member, Court, Pondicherry University, 1995-96; Member, Court, Jawaharlal Nehru University, 1999-2000; Has been awarded " Outstanding Parliamentarain Award" for 2006 by President Smt. Pratibha Devsingh Patil;
