This week, Meira Kumar became the first woman speaker of Lok Sabha, the directly elected lower house of the Parliament of India. It was really a historical day for Indian democracy. She is a five time Lok Sabha member. However she was Cabinet Minister in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in the last UPA Government. She is daughter of former Deputy Prime Minister and prominent dalit leader, Babu Jagjivan Ram. She got her early education in Patna and then she did her M.A., LL.B, Educated at Indraprastha College and Miranda House, Delhi University. After clearing the UPSC examination in 1973, she joined the Indian Foreign Service and served at embassies in Spain, United Kingdom and Mauritius.
Manmohan Singh declared this appointment of Meira Kumar as Lok Sabha Speaker as a “historic occasion”. He said
“For the first time a woman member has been elected speaker and that too a woman from the Dalit community. In electing her we members of parliament pay tribute to the women of our country and the great contribution that they have made,”
In 1985 she left the glamorous job of Indian Foreign Service and join politics. After defeating big Dalit leaders like Mayawati and Ram Bilash Paswan, she was elected from Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh. Being a dalit leader, she always supported reservation for SC, ST and OBC candidates in Government Jobs and Colleges. This is the only point I don’t like about her 🙂 Very few people know that she is not only an expert in Rifle Shooting but also a good poetess. I wish her best of luck for her role as a Lok Sabha Speaker.