One of the most recognised faces of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the party's spokesperson, Prakash Javadekar took over as the New Human Resource Development Minister on July 5, 2016. He was earlier the Minister of State with Independent Charge for Information and Broadcasting, Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs.

Family and Personal Background of Prakash Javadekar

He was born in a Brahmin family on January 30, 1951 in Pune. He was born to Keshav Krishna Javadekar and Ranjani Javadekar. His father was the leader of Hindu Maha Sabha and his mother was a teacher. His father worked as a journalist in many newspapers and also held the position of the editor in Marathi Daily. The newspaper was started by Lokmanya Tilak. His mother gives Vedic education. During his graduation, he became the member of ABVP. Prior to this, for 12 long years he was the senate member of Pune University.

He is married to Dr. Prachee Javadekar and the couple is blessed with two sons.

Political Career of Prakash Javadekar

Active in politics since his college days, Javadekar was a member of ABVP, the student wing of RSS. This was the beginning of his political career. His dedication towards his work gained him the position of National Secretary in the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha. In 1980s he became the General Secretary and was completely involved into the workings of the party.

As part of the student's movement, Javadekar was quite active during the Emergency declared by then PM Indira Gandhi. Hailing from Pune, he led the Satyagraha movement in his city for which he was even arrested. Though he had to face a lot of problems in jail, Javadekar did not give up. He received a lot of support and finally the government released him.

Javadekar was elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Council from 1990 to 2002. The next step in his political career was the Rajya Sabha. His dream came true in the year 2008 when he was elected to Rajya Sabha. He kept climbing the ladder of success and finally got a place in Modi's cabinet. After assuming the charge of his ministry Javadekar talked about “the importance of freedom of press for the success of democracy as it gives a rainbow of opinion”. He also said that “the media itself suffices for self-regulation. Institutions are important for the functioning of democracy and priorities would be worked out after due consultation with the stakeholders”.

Before making his debut into politics, he was a banker. He worked in a bank for almost 10 years. When wholly immersed into the politics, he resigned from his position as a banker and became a full time party activist. Today, he is not only the party's spokesperson but also President of the Global Legislators Organisation for Balanced Environment (GLOBE), India. He is also a member of various committees. Earlier, he also occupied the position of the Executive President of the State Planning Board, Maharashtra; and Chairman of the Task Force on IT, Government of Maharashtra.

Javadekar Apart from Politics

Javadekar loves travelling and has travelled a lot. He has also written books in Marathi language. He wrote many booklets on problems related to unemployment, infiltration and various political issues.

Political Journey of Prakash Javadekar

• From 1990 to 2002 he was a member of Maharashtra Legislative Council.
• In 1995 he became the Executive President of State Planning Board of Maharashtra.
• From 1997 to 1999 he became the Chairman of Task Force on IT, Government of Maharashtra.
• He was elected to Rajya Sabha in 2008.
• 2008 onwards he was a member of several committees like Committee on Energy, Committee on Papers Laid on the Table, Committee on Defence, Committee on Public Undertakings, Committee on Public Accounts, Committee on Human Resource Development, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Power.
• Prakash Javadekar was appointed as the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Information and Broadcasting, Environment, Forest and Climate Change on May 27, 2014.
• On July 5, Javadekar was appointed the Human Resource Development Minister.

Achievements of Prakash Javadekar

He was awarded with the 'Sir Purshottam Das Thakur Memorial' National Award for his research paper on 'Rural Development and Banks' role in Co-coordinated Approach'.

In the year 2000, Javadekar also led the delegation to Boston to Negotiate Media Lab Asia Project.

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