- Margaret Alva
-
Margaret Alva 
Margaret Alva Governor of Uttarakhand Personal details Born April 14, 1942
MangaloreNationality 
(Indian)Children 3 son(s) and 1 daughter Alma mater Mt. Carmel College and Government Law College, Bangalore Profession Lawyer Religion Christianity Margaret Alva (Sanskrit: मर्गरेत अलव; Kannada:ಮಾರ್ಗರೆಟ್ ಆಳ್ವ born April 14, 1942) is the Governor of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Alva became Uttarakhand's first woman governor in July 2009. She is a senior leader of the Indian National Congress and was the General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee.[1][2]
Margaret Alva was the General Secretary of the Indian National Congress, the oldest political party in India, and a close adviser to the president of the Indian National Congress, Sonia Gandhi. Alva was removed from her position in Congress Party following her allegations on the functioning of the Congress party pertaining to the Cash for votes scandal. A former five-term member of the Indian parliament from 1974 to 2004, she has also been appointed as advisor to the Bureau of Parliamentary Studies and Training, a body set up to improve the standards of legislative functions in the National Parliament and State Assemblies. She has spearheaded four major legislative amendments passed by the Indian parliament involving women's rights, marriage laws, equal remuneration and the reservation of quotas for women in local politics. Ms. Alva also helped draft the blueprint for policies ensuring the empowerment of women, which has been adopted by India's central and state governments. In 2003, she was honored by President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa for playing an important role in garnering support for the people of South Africa during their struggle for freedom and against apartheid. Ms. Alva is a former Minister of Human Resource Development under the government of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, which was responsible for harnessing and promoting the potential of India's massive population. A lawyer by profession, she was conferred an honorary doctorate in literature by the University of Mysore, Karnataka, India. She is the founder President of NGO 'Karuna'.
Contents
Personal life
Born to P.A. Nazareth and Elizabeth Nazareth in Mangalore, Alva moved to Bangalore to pursue her studies. She graduated with a BA, B.L., Hon. Doctorate at Mount Carmel College Bangalore and University Law College, Bangalore (then known as Government Law College). She chose to start her professional career as an advocate. She married Niranjan Alva on the 24 May 1964, with whom she has one daughter and three sons, including Niret Alva and Nikhil Alva who co-founded Miditech, a Rs 50-crore television software company, in 1992.[3] She hails from the Mangalorean Catholic community. Niranjan Alva is the son of freedom fighters and the first couple in the Indian Parliament, Joachim Alva and Violet Alva.[4]
Controversy
In November 2008 she charged that congress seats for the elections were up for bidding as opposed to a meritocratic appointment to run for office. The party responded to the charge by denying such a claim, as well as dropping her as general secretary of the party, the Congress Working Committee and the party's Central Election Committee. She was also stripped of her charge of the congress party in Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana and Mizoram. Congress spokesperson, Shakeel Ahmad, added that "Congress president Mrs Sonia Gandhi has taken the decision on the report submitted by Mr AK Antony, chairperson of the Disciplinary Action Committee."[5] This corroborated an outburst by the son of the congress chairperson, Rahul Gandhi, that "Democracy in political parties is non-existent in India. You cannot enter unless you are well connected." In response to the recent allegations, however, he said, "I had made some recommendations to include some younger boys. I am not unhappy with the distribution of tickets."[6]
Key Positions Held
- 1972-73 - Convener, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Women's Front
- 1974-80 - Member, Rajya Sabha; Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of External Affairs
- 1975-76 - Convener, Congress Parliamentary Party; Member, Committee on Information and Broadcasting
- 1975-76 - Member, Executive, Congress Parliamentary Party
- 1975-77 - Joint Secretary, All India Congress Committee
- 1978-80 - General Secretary, Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC), Karnataka
- 1980-86 - Member, Rajya Sabha (2nd term); Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of External Affairs
- 1983-85 - Member, Panel of Vice-Chairmen, Rajya Sabha
- 1983-88 - National Convener, Mahila Congress
- 1984-85 - Minister of State, Parliamentary Affairs; Member, Committee on Public Undertakings
- 1985-89 - Minister of State, Youth Affairs, Sports, Women and Child Development in the Ministry of Human Resource Development
- 1986-92 - Member, Rajya Sabha (3rd term)
- 1990-91 - Chairman, Committee on Papers Laid on the Table, Rajya Sabha
- 1991 - Minister of State, Personnel, Public Grievances and
- 1992-98 - Member, Rajya Sabha (4th term)
- 1993-95 - Deputy Chief Whip, Congress Party, Rajya Sabha
- 1993-96 - Minister of State, Personnel, Public Grievances/Pensions with additional charge of Parliamentary Affairs
- 1996-97 - Member, Committee on External Affairs
- 1996-98 - Member, Committee on Public Accounts; Member, Committee on Ministry of Information/Broadcasting
- 1999 - Elected to 13th Lok Sabha; Panel of Chairmen
- 1999-00 - Member, Committee on Transport and Tourism; Member, House Committee; Member, General Purposes Committee
- 2000-01 - Chairman, Committee on the Empowerment of Women
- 2000- - Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Tourism
Positions held
- Member, All India Congress Committee
- 1972-73 Convener, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Women's Front
- 1974-80 Member, Rajya Sabha
- Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of External Affairs
- 1975-76 Convenor, Congress Parliamentary Party
- Member, Committee on Information and Broadcasting
- Member, Executive, Congress Parliamentary Party
- 1975-77 Joint Secretary, All India Congress Committee
- 1978-80 General Secretary, Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC), Karnataka
- 1980-86 Member, Rajya Sabha (2nd term)
- Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of External Affairs
- 1983-85 Member, Panel of Vice-Chairmen, Rajya Sabha
- 1983-88 National Convener, Mahila Congress
- 1984-85 Union Minister of State, Parliamentary Affairs
- Member, Committee on Public Undertakings
- 1985-89 Union Minister of State, Youth Affairs, Sports, Women and
- Child Development in the Ministry of Human Resource Development
- 1986-92 Member, Rajya Sabha (3rd term)
- 1990-91 Chairman, Committee on Papers Laid on the Table, Rajya Sabha
- Member, Executive, Congress Parliamentary Party
- 1991 Union Minister of State, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
- 1992-98 Member, Rajya Sabha (4th term)
- 1993-95 Deputy Chief Whip, Congress Party, Rajya Sabha
- 1993-96 Union Minister of State, Personnel, Public Grievances and
- Pensions with additional charge of Parliamentary Affairs
- 1996-97 Member, Committee on External Affairs
- 1996-98 Member, Committee on Public Accounts
- Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
- 1999 Elected to 13th Lok Sabha
- Member, Panel of Chairmen
- 1999-2000 Member, Committee on Transport and Tourism
- Member, House Committee
- Member, General Purposes Committee
- 2000-2001 Chairman, Committee on the Empowerment of Women
- 2000-2004 Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Tourism
- Literary Artistic & Scientific Accomplishments
- Course in oil painting, interior decoration and Ikebana
Awards, Honors and Achievements
- Best All Round Student, Mt. Carmel College, 1961; Conferred,
- The Hon. Degree of Doctorate of Literature by the University of Mysore, 1989
- Mahila Siromani Award, 1991
- Rajiv Gandhi Excellence Award, 1991; and
- Dr. T.M.A. Pai Foundation Outstanding Konkani Award, 1991;
- She is the President of Delhi Y.W.C.A., 1975–78; Delhi Foundation of Deaf Women, 1975–82; and World Women Parliamentarians for Peace, 1986–88 and
- Chairperson of: (i) Foreign Students' Welfare Committee of Indian Council for Cultural Relations, 1982–84; (ii) SAARC Technical Committee on Women, 1985–86; and (iii) UN Expert Group meeting on Women in Decision making, Vienna, 1987
- General Secretary - All India Catholic University Federation (AICUF), 1961; Joint Secretary, Government Law College Students Union, 1963-64.
Membership
- Indian Committee for International Women's Year, 1975
- Indian Delegation to U.N. Conference for International Women's Year at Mexico, 1975;(iii) Indian Delegation to the United Nations
- General Assembly, 1976 and 1998
- Central Youth Advisory Board, 1976–77
- National Children's Board, 1977–78
- National Adult Education Board, 1978–79; (vii) National Committee on Child Labour, 1979
- Governing Council of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations, 1982–84
- Bar Council of India Panel of Eminent Persons for Asia and the Pacific for HRD (ESCAP)
- Governing Council of SID, Rome; and
- Commonwealth Observer Group for Elections in Camaroon; elected to IPU Co-ordinating Committee of Women Parliamentarians, 2000.; Spokesperson, Congress Parliamentary Party
Unique Achievements
- Doctorate of Literature by the University of Mysore, 1989
- UN Expert Group meeting on Women in Decision-making, Vienna, 1987
- National Committee on Child Labor, 1979
- Commonwealth Observer Group for Elections in Cameroon
Notes
- ^ "Smt. Margaret Alva,: Bio-sketch". Parliament of India website. http://www.parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/lok13/biodata/13KN22.htm.
- ^ "Rajya Sabha Members Biographical Sketches 1952 - 2003 :A". Rajya Sabha website. http://rajyasabha.nic.in/rsnew/pre_member/1952_2003/a.pdf.
- ^ "Miditech moves on". Business Standard. September 29, 2004. http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/miditech-moves-on/190046/.
- ^ A stamp in memory of Joachim and Violet Alva Rediff.com, November 20, 2008.
- ^ "Cong cuts Alva down to size". The Statesman. The Statesman Ltd. 2008-11-13. http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=262855:Cong%20cuts%20Alva%20down%20to%20size&catid=36:india&from_page=search. Retrieved 2010-01-20.
- ^ "'No democracy in Indian parties'". The Statesman. The Statesman Ltd. 2008-11-13. http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=262876:%E2%80%98No%20democracy%20in%20Indian%20parties%E2%80%99&catid=36:india&from_page=search. Retrieved 2010-01-20.
Categories:- 1942 births
- People from Mangalore
- Indian Roman Catholics
- Indian politicians
- Living people
- Mangaloreans
- Governors of Uttarakhand
- 13th Lok Sabha members
- Members of the Rajya Sabha
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
