Arjun Ram Meghwal

Arjun Ram Meghwal is the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs & Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises in the Government of India. He is the Member of Parliamentary of Lok Sabha from Bikaner Constituency.

Biography

Arjun Ram Meghwal is a retired IAS Officer, Social Worker, Farmer, Educationist by Profession turned politician from Rajasthan. He took voluntary retirement from the Indian Administrative Service in order to join politics. After completing graduation in Law in the year 1977 and post-graduation in Arts in the year 1979 as a regular student, In 1982, he qualified the RAS Exams and got elected for the Rajasthan Udhyog Seva. He was appointed as Assistant Director in the Jila Udhyog Kendra and worked as the General Manager of Jila Udhyog Kendra of Jhunjhnu, Dhaulpur, Rajsamvad, Jaipur, Alwar & Shriganganagar districts of Rajasthan. Currently, he is the Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, and Parliamentary Affairs. He has been elected to the 15th and 16th and 17th Lok Sabhas (terms of the lower house of the Parliament of India) from the Bikaner constituency, in 2009, 2014, and 2019.

Early Life and Education:

He was born on 20 December 1953 to Lakhu Ram Meghwal and Hira Devi in a small village of Kishmidesar in Bikaner, Rajasthan. He is a Master of Arts in Pol. Science, LLB, and MBA from Dungar College in Bikaner and University of Philippines in the Philippines. He was also an IAS Officer in Rajasthan Cadre and seen as the face of Schedule caste in Rajasthan.

He has married Pana Devi and is blessed with 2 sons and 2 daughters. He is a good player in Badminton and is a Farmer and Educationist by profession. His cousin Madan Gopal Meghwal is also a politician from Indian National Congress.

Career

After completing graduation in Law in the year 1977 and post-graduation in Arts in the year 1979 as a regular student, In 1982, he qualified the RAS Exams and got elected for the Rajasthan Udhyog Seva. He was appointed as Assistant Director in the Jila Udhyog Kendra and worked as the General Manager of Jila Udhyog Kendra of Jhunjhnu, Dhaulpur, Rajsamvad, Jaipur, Alwar & Shriganganagar districts of Rajasthan.

In the year 1994, he was appointed as the Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Mr. Harishankar Bhabda, then Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan. While working as OSD to Dy. CM, he was also having charge of General Manager of Jila Udhyog Kendra, Jaipur. In the same year, he was elected as the State President for Rajasthan Udhyog Seva Parisad. Then, he was appointed as Additional Collector (Development) in Barmer. Later on, he won the election of General Secretary for Dr. Ambedkar Memorial Welfare Society, Rajasthan. He was promoted as IAS officer of the 1999 batch in Rajasthan cadre & worked on many administrative posts like Deputy Secretary, Technical Education; Special Secretary, Higher Education; Managing Director, Rajasthan Laghu Udhyog Nigam Limited; Additional Commissioner; Commercial Tax Department; District Collector and District Magistrate, Churu. He took voluntary retirement from the Indian Administrative Service in order to join politics.

IAS officer in the various capacities in Rajasthan Cadre:

From 2011-2014, he was the Co-Chairman of the Committee on the Reservation in Judiciary, under National Commission for SC, He was Served as an IAS officer in various capacities in Rajasthan Cadre;

(i) Member of Executive Committee of the Indian Parliamentary Group 22-2-2010 onwards.
(ii) From 2010-2014, he was the India – Canada Parliamentary Friendship Group.
(iii) India – Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group 2010-2014.
(iv) India – Romania Parliamentary Friendship Group 2011-2014.
(v) General Counsel of the National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD).
(vi) Governing Council of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) 11/10/2013 onwards.

Political Career:

Arjun Ram Meghwal started his political journey with the Bhartiya Janata Party. In 2009, He was Elected to 15th Lok Sabha. He defeated Rewat Ram Panwar of the INC Party by 19,575 votes. On 2 June 2009, took oath as a Member of Parliament in Lok Sabha.

In 2010, He was the Vice-President, Bharatiya Janata Party (B.J.P.) Rajasthan. Also, he became the Member of National Executive, B.J.P. From 21 Jun 2010 to 31 Aug 2011, he was the Member, Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forest.

31 Aug. 2011, He was appointed as the Member, Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice. In 2011, he became a Convenor, Anuvrat Parliamentarian Forum and in Dec 2011 he was appointed as Member, Zonal Railway User`s Consultative Committee (ZRUCC).

01 May 2012, He was the Member, Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. 21 April 2013, He was the Member, Committee on Absence of Member from the Sitting of the House 2012.

In 2014, He was Re-elected to 16th Lok Sabha (2nd term) He defeated Er. Shankar Pannu of INC Party by 308,079 votes. During his 2nd term as an MP, he was Chief Whip of Bhartiya Janta Party in Lok Sabha. Speaker of Lok Sabha also nominated him as the Chairman of House Committee, Lok Sabha.

From 2015-2016, He was the Member of, General Purposes Committee. Member, Governing Council of SSA. Member, National Khadi and Village Industries Board. From 2015-2016, He was the Member of, Committee on Estimates. 3 July 2015, He was the Member, Sub-Committee-III, Committee on Estimates.

From 2016-2017, He was the Union Minister of State, Ministry of Finance; and Ministry of Corporate Affairs. In 2017, He was the Union Minister State, Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.

In 2019, He was inducted into Narendra Modi’s cabinet as MoS Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and MoS Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.

In May 2019, Meghwal became Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises. He contested and won the Bikaner Lok Sabha seat and defeated INC candidate Madan Gopal Meghwal by a margin of over two lakh votes.

Interesting Facts:

Meghwal doesn’t use the car provided by the government in commuting for work. Instead, he uses his push-bike as a local transport mode. He was given the Best Parliamentarian Award in 2013.

Books Published:
Chief Editor of saviors of religious, social and cultural organizations; Jan Sewa Me Arjun Ram Meghwal, Ek Safar Hum Safar Ke Sath, Divya Path Damptya Ka, CAA: Bharatiya Mulyon w paramparaoko Shashkatkarnewala Kanun

Social And Cultural Activities:

Participated in many programs for the development of the Rajasthani language; extended full cooperation in various capacities for recognition of Rajasthani as an Indian language in VIIIth Scheduled of the Indian Constitution; Worked as a Principal Advisor of Bhwana Meghwal Memorial Trust, which is committed to promoting the talented and economically deprived students by providing scholarships etc. and guidance by various programs; the Trust has been conducting group marriage programs of the weaker sections of the society and seminar, workshops to awaken the people about social issues.

Initiated Debate and Discussion for the abolition of Manual Scavengers in the Country in 15th Lok Sabha and has raised the matter since the vigorously. This issue has been raised the first time in the Calling Attention by him.

Initiated Debate about allowing arguments by Lawyers in Hindi in High Courts and Supreme Court of India
Conducted various Happiness Programmes to promote Happiness Index in society

Special Interests:

Singer-instrumental and vocal both especially spiritual Bhajan, Storytelling, morning walk, yoga, and pranayama.

Favorite Pastime and Recreation:

Visiting religious and spiritual places, writing and reading, interacting with youth.