Party Name : All India Trinamool Congress
Constituency : Calcutta North East
State : West Bengal
Member Experience : Elected to Loksabha 6 time
Last Loksabha Attended : 13
Father's Name : Late Dr. Dhanapati Panja
Mother's Name : Late Smt. Santwana Panja
Date of birth : 13 Sep 1936
Profession : Advocate Social Worker
Positions held :
1971 Member, West Bengal Legislative Assembly1971-72 Cabinet Minister, Judiciary and Parliamentary Affairs (Home), West Bengal1972-77 Member, West Bengal Legislative Assembly1973 onwards Member, All India Congress Committee (A.I.C.C.)1977 President, District Congress Committee (D.C.C.) (I), North Calcutta, West Bengal1972-77 Cabinet Minister, Health and Family Planning and Water Supply, Calcutta Corporation, Municipal Affairs and Forests Development, West BengalChairman, Jhargram Development Board1980-81 President, Pradesh Congress Committee (P.C.C.) (I), West Bengal1982-85 Member, West Bengal Legislative Assembly1984 Elected to 8th Lok Sabha1985-86 Union Minister of State, Planning1986 Union Minister of State, Food and Civil Supplies1986-88 Union Minister of State, Information and Broadcasting (Independent Charge)1988-89 Union Minister of State, Finance1989 Re-elected to 9th Lok Sabha (2nd term)1990 Member, Committee of PrivilegesMember, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Finance1990-91 Member, Committee on Public AccountsMember, Informal Consultative Committee, Railway Zone1991 Re-elected to 10th Lok Sabha (3rd term)1991-93 Union Minister of State, Information and Broadcasting (Independent Charge)1993-95 Union Minister of State, Coal (Independent Charge)1996 Re-elected to 11th Lok Sabha (4th term)1996-97 Member, Committee on EnergyMember, Business Advisory Committee1998 Re-elected to 12th Lok Sabha (5th term)Chief Whip, West Bengal Trinamool Congress Parliamentary Party1998-99 Member, Committee on IndustryMember, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Urban Affairs and EmploymentChairman, West Bengal Trinamool Congress1999 Re-elected to 13th Lok Sabha (6th term)13 Oct. 1999 - 16 March 2001 Union Minister of State, External Affairs
More Information :
Books Published
i) Encephalitis Attack in West Bengal; (ii) CPM Gun Shoot to Kill (English and Bengali); (iii) Ganatantra Hatya (Bengali); (iv) Siksha Khethre Nairajya (Bengali); (v) Sansad Bichitra (Bengali); (vi) PM (Sh. V.P. Singh) Challenged to Prove Charges (English); (vii) Dunkel Agreement (Bengali); (viii) Unemployment Problem in India—How to Solve it (Bengali); (ix) Era of Excellence of Narasimha Rao Government—4th Year-Major Achievements and Decisions (English, Hindi, Urdu and Bengali); and (x) Mining Medicines Hand Book for Health Workers and Mine Workers
Literary, Artistic & Scientific Accomplishments
Lover of Creative Art; Stage Artist, played the role of Sri Ramakrishna in the Bengali play ‘Nati Binodani’, conferred with Best Actor ‘Uttam Award’, 1999
Social And Cultural Activities
Engaged in social work for the poor, needy and physically handicapped; connected with several social organisations for the welfare of minority communities, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and the downtrodden
Special Interests
Reading story books for children, singing and writing
Favourite Pastime and Recreation
Reading, listening to music, gardening and singing
Sports and Clubs
Member, (i) Mohan Bagan Club; (ii) Calcutta Club; (iii) East Bengal Club; and (iv) Aiykya Saminilani Football Club
Countries Visited
Widely travelled; Member, PM’s Delegation to Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand and Thailand, October 1986; Leader, (i) Delegation to Bhutan, November 1986; (ii) Delegation to International Film Festival at Mauritius and Moscow, 1987 and July 1991; (iii) Delegation to Information Ministers of SAARC Countries Conference at Harare, June, 1987; (iv) Delegation to Burma and Thailand in July 1988; (v) Delegation to the film Segment of the Festival of India, Berlin, 1991; (vi) Parliamentary Delegation to U.K., France and Germany to evaluate the Parliamentary Broadcasting System in Parliament House, June 1992; (vii) Delegation to Germany in September, 1993; and (viii) High Power Delegation for establishing bilateral relations in the field of Coal Industries, China, 1994; as Minister of State for External Affairs, visited (i) Sri Lanka in November, 1999; (ii) Macau for handing over ceremony to China in December 1999; and (iii) Bangladesh in January 2000; also accompanied Prime Minister during his visit to Mauritius in March 2000
Other Information
Member, (i) Supreme Court Bar Association; (ii) High Court Bar Association; and (iii) Bar Library Club High Court, Calcutta
