Party Name : Indian National Congress
Constituency : Latur
State : Maharashtra
Member Experience : Elected to Loksabha 7 time
Last Loksabha Attended : 13
Father's Name : Late Shri Vishwanath Rao
Mother's Name : Smt. Bhagiriti Bai
Date of birth : 12 Oct 1935
Profession : Advocate Agriculturist, Social Worker, Professor
Positions held :
1967-69 President, Municipality, Latur1971 President, Municipality, Latur1972 President, Municipality, Latur1972-79 Member, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly (two terms)1974-75 Chairman, Public Undertakings Committee1975-76 Deputy Minister, Law and Judiciary, Irrigation and Protocol, Maharashtra1977-78 Deputy Speaker, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly1978-79 Speaker, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly1980 Elected to 7th Lok SabhaMay-Sept. 1980 Member, Joint Committee on Salaries and Allowances of Members of ParliamentSept.-Oct. 1980 Chairman, Joint Committee on Salaries and Allowances of Members of Parliament1980-82 Union Minister of State, Defence1982-83 Union Minister of State, Commerce (Independent Charge)1983-84 Union Minister of State, Science and Technology, Atomic Energy, Electronics, Space and Ocean Development1984 Re-elected to 8th Lok Sabha (2nd term)1984-86 Union Minister of State, Science and Technology, Space, Atomic Energy, Electronics, Ocean Development and Bio Technology1985 Union Minister of State, Personnel and Training, Public Grievances and Pensions and Administrative Reforms1986-88 Union Minister of State, Defence Production1988-89 Union Minister of State, Civil Aviation and Tourism (Independent Charge)1989 Re-elected to 9th Lok Sabha (3rd term)1990-91 Deputy Speaker, Lok SabhaChairman, Library CommitteeChairman, Committee on Private Members’ Bills and ResolutionsMember, General Purposes CommitteeMember, Business Advisory Committee1991 Re-elected to 10th Lok Sabha (4th term)1991-96 Speaker, Lok SabhaChairman, (i) Business Advisory Committee; (ii) Rules Committee; and (iii) General Purposes Committee; and Standing Committee of the Conference of Presiding Officers of the Legislative Bodies in India;President, (i) Indian Parliamentary Group; (ii) National Group of Inter- Parliamentary Union; and (iii) India Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association1996 Re-elected to 11th Lok Sabha (5th term)1996-98 Member, Committee on Defence1998 Re-elected to 12th Lok Sabha (6th term)1998-99 Member, Committee on External AffairsMember, Rules CommitteeMember, Consultative Committee, Ministry of External Affairs1999 Re-elected to 13th Lok Sabha (7th term)1999-2000 Chairman, Committee on FinanceMember, Committee of PrivilegesMember, General Purposes Committee2000-2004 Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Home Affairs
More Information :
Books Published
i) Reminiscences and Reflections; (ii) Emerging Vision of India; (iii) Ecstasy and Agony of a Presiding Officer; and (iv) Fragrance of Innerself
Special Interests
Reading and writing
Favourite Pastime and Recreation
Reading, painting and farming
Sports and Clubs
Swimming, horse-riding and shooting
Countries Visited
Widely travelled (41 countries); Leader, Indian Parliamentary Delegation to, (i) 86th Inter-Parliamentary Conference, Santiago, Chile, 1991; (ii) 38th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference, Nassau, Bahamas, 1992; (iii) 39th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference, Cyprus, 1993; (iv) 90th Inter-Parliamentary Conference, Canberra, Australia, 1993; (v) 40th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference, Banff, Canada, 1994; (vi) 41st Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 1995; (vii) 94th Inter-Parliamentary Conference, Bucharest, Romania, 1995; and (viii) Special Session of the Inter-Parliamentary Council on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the United Nations, New York, 1995; and attended Conference of SAARC Speakers, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 1992; also led Indian Parliamentary Delegations to several countries, 1991-95
Other Information
During the tenure of his Speakership of Lok Sabha, India had the privilege of hosting in New Delhi as many as four major International Parliamentary Conferences, viz. (i) 37th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference, September 1991; (ii) 89th Inter-Parliamentary Conference, April 1993; (iii) Sixth Commonwealth Parliamentary Seminar, January 1994; and (iv) First Conference of the Association of SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians, July 1995; he took initiative and formulated the scheme for creating seventeen Departmentally Related Standing Committees of Parliament which were formally inaugurated on 31 March 1993; gave a new thrust to the ongoing computerisation and modernisation of Lok Sabha Secretariat, especially the information service to the members and they were provided with computers to get instant and up-to-date information on a wide range of activities; initiated and got started the construction of a modern ‘Parliament Library Building’ to cater to the information needs of the members; another initiative undertaken by him was the starting of televising of parliamentary proceedings in the first instance and later live telecast of Lok Sabha proceedings since 25 August 1994 within a range of 15 km. from Parliament House, besides the live telecast of the Question Hour of both the Houses of Parliament on alternate weeks throughout India; got set up a modernised state-of-the-art studio for televising parliamentary proceedings through robotic cameras; took personal interest by conceptualising and directing six films on parliamentary practice and procedures produced by the Lok Sabha Secretariat; took initiative in starting fellowship awards by the Lok Sabha Secretariat to the researchers conducting studies on subjects related to parliamentary institutions; Vice-President, CSIR, 1983-86
