Arjun Singh
Encyclopedia
Arjun Singh was an Indian politician from the Indian National Congress
party. He was the Union Minister of Human Resource Development
in the Manmohan Singh
cabinet from 2004 to 2009.
He belonged to the Churhat Jagir under ex-Princely State of Rewa
, Madhya Pradesh. He died on 4 March 2011 due to a heart attack.
, also a Congress politician, was Minister of Industry under Jawaharlal Nehru
. In 1950 he was convicted of forging documents favouring a diamond business, and was sentenced to three years rigorous imprisonment. The judgment was upheld by the supreme court in 1953, and he died in prison itself.
Arjun Singh was married to Saroj Devi of Pratapgarh near Amarpatan in Satna, M.P. and the couple have two sons and a daughter. Abhimanyu Singh, their first son, is a businessman in Bangalore. Their second son, Ajay Singh 'Rahul', is an Indian National Congress politician, MP MLA and has been a minister in M.P. Government. Their daughter Veena Singh fought unsuccessfully as an independent candidate from Sidhi
Lok Sabha constituency in 15th Lok Sabha
elections. Young bollywood
actor Arunoday Singh
is his grandson.Former MP CM Digvijay Singh
, ex-Union Cabinet minister and member of parliament Sanjay Singh
of Amethi and noted poet Shivmangal Singh Suman
have been close relatives of Arjun Singh.
problems; Singh complained of breathing problem around 5:30 pm. He suffered a heart attack and died at approximately 6:15 pm. His mortal remains will be cremated at his home town Churhat near Sidhi M.P.
along with Narayan Dutt Tiwari
, former Union minister and ex-CM of Uttar Pradesh
and Uttarakhand
(formerly Uttaranchal) as President, but he lost in the 1996 Loksabha elections from Satna
in Madhya Pradesh
and the Congress too lost power at the center. Later he returned to Congress and lost again from of Hoshangabad
in Madhya Pradesh
. He served as Chief Minister
of Madhya Pradesh
three times, Union minister and Governor
of Punjab
once for a short period. As Governor of Punjab, he worked for the Rajiv-Longwal Accord for peace in Punjab. He was awarded the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award in 2000.
occurred. It is widely alleged that on the fateful night between December 2, 1984 and December 3, 1984, when the gas leak occurred, Arjun Singh fled to his Kerwa Dam palace (outside Bhopal) to save himself from deadly effects of leaked gas and was not available to manage the crisis or lead the administration. Subsequently the Arjun Singh government's mishandling was criticized by the court in the 7 June 2010 verdict on Bhopal Gas Disaster pronounced by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bhopal. The media raised serious questions about his role in the release of Warren Anderson. In particular, the pilot of the aircraft in which Warren Anderson
flew out of India after the gas leak, has recorded that the final sanction to permit the flight came from Arjun Singh's office.
' test of constitutionality by the Supreme Court, all private unaided educational institutes could be asked by their State Governments to reserve seats for designated Other Backward Class
es. In early 2006, Singh also sought to increase caste-based reservation quotas
for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the internationally reputed Indian Institutes of Technology
and Indian Institutes of Management
, along with other Indian central government run institutes of higher studies, from 22.5% to 49.5%.
Arjun Singh planned to impose quotas not just in 32 Central institutions, but also in over 100 deemed universities.
He noted, in the context of Dalit
Muslim
reservations that "the UPA is entirely committed towards the cause of Muslims".These decisions were sighted by many intellectuals as a shameless move to garner the vote bank of the backward classes of Hindus as well as Muslims. Nationwide protests came out in the wake of these eccentric decisions. However the UPA-I government did not succumb to these protests. The opposition parties fearing losing their own vote banks agreed to the draft amendment too.
The Churhat Children Welfare Society was floated in 1982 by relatives of Singh, and permitted to raise funds via lottery, and also given tax relief as a charity. However, there were widespread allegations that a substantial sums were siphoned off and used to construct the lavish
Kerwa
Dam palace near Bhopal. The donations to the society included a Rs 150,000 donation from Union Carbide
, whose chief Warren Anderson
was permitted to leave the country after the gas leak, allegedly by Arjun Singh's office.
At a public litigation hearing the high court observed that "Arjun
Singh owed an explanation to the nation about the costs and sources of
construction of the palatial mansion in Bhopal". While Singh had claimed the value of the palace was Rs
18 lakh, the IT Department estimated the cost at above Rs one crore
.
However, a one-judge commission investigating the scandal gave a clean chit to Arjun Singh. The case was re-opened however, after the Jain Hawala case, and Singh was asked to submit fresh re-estimates of the palace cost.
In court, the case was argued by Kapil Sibal
and the order for re-examination was squashed on the grounds that it had been issued in a haste and "had not applied his mind".
A case under the Anti-Dowry Act has been registered against Arjun Singh. Mayawati
government has decided to seek CBI
inquiry into dowry harassment case.
Arjun Singh was accused of irregularities and corruption in the grant of Deemed University status to private for-profit educational institutions which did not meet requisite educational standards, during his tenure as Minister for Human Resources Development. The Government of India initiated proceedings to repeal the "Deemed University" status of 44 such institutions in Jan 2010.
He was re-elected to the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh without opposition on March 20, 2006.
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
party. He was the Union Minister of Human Resource Development
Ministry of Human Resource Development (India)
The Ministry of Human Resource Development is an Indian government ministry, responsible for the development of human resources...
in the Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh is the 13th and current Prime Minister of India. He is the only Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after completing a full five-year term. A Sikh, he is the first non-Hindu to occupy the office. Singh is also the 7th Prime Minister belonging to the Indian...
cabinet from 2004 to 2009.
He belonged to the Churhat Jagir under ex-Princely State of Rewa
Rewa (princely state)
Rewa was a princely state of India, surrounding its eponymous capital, the town of Rewa.-Description:With an area of about 13,000 mi², Rewa was the largest princely state in the Bagelkhand Agency and the second largest in Central India Agency. The British political agent for Bagelkhand resided...
, Madhya Pradesh. He died on 4 March 2011 due to a heart attack.
Family
Arjun Singh's father, Rao Shiv Bahadur SinghRao Shiv Bahadur Singh
Rao Shiv Bahadur Singh was an Indian politician with the Indian National Congress party, who was convicted in 1950 of taking bribes to issue a forged document for a diamond mining firm...
, also a Congress politician, was Minister of Industry under Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...
. In 1950 he was convicted of forging documents favouring a diamond business, and was sentenced to three years rigorous imprisonment. The judgment was upheld by the supreme court in 1953, and he died in prison itself.
Arjun Singh was married to Saroj Devi of Pratapgarh near Amarpatan in Satna, M.P. and the couple have two sons and a daughter. Abhimanyu Singh, their first son, is a businessman in Bangalore. Their second son, Ajay Singh 'Rahul', is an Indian National Congress politician, MP MLA and has been a minister in M.P. Government. Their daughter Veena Singh fought unsuccessfully as an independent candidate from Sidhi
Sidhi
Sidhi is a city and a municipality in Sidhi district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.-Geography:Sidhi is located at . It has an average elevation of 272 metres .It is a state of Chandela Rajput who came from Delhi...
Lok Sabha constituency in 15th Lok Sabha
15th Lok Sabha
Members of the 15th Lok Sabha were elected in 2009 during the General Elections in India.- Important members :* Speaker: Meira Kumar, Indian National Congress, Sasaram, Bihar...
elections. Young bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
actor Arunoday Singh
Arunoday Singh
Arunoday Singh is an Indian film actor. Arunodoy Singh debut movie was Sikandar . He played the character of some Kashmiri Zahgeer Quadir in the movie Sikander...
is his grandson.Former MP CM Digvijay Singh
Digvijay Singh
Digvijay Singh is an Indian politician, a former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and a senior leader of the Indian National Congress political party. He has been the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh state for two five-year terms...
, ex-Union Cabinet minister and member of parliament Sanjay Singh
Sanjay Singh
Dr. Sanjay Singh/Sinh is a member of the Parliament of India, Lok Sabha from Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, earlier was elected from Amethi / Amethi in India from 1998 to 1999 and earlier a member of Rajya Sabha from 1990 to 1996. He has been a controversial political figure...
of Amethi and noted poet Shivmangal Singh Suman
Shivmangal Singh Suman
Shivmangal Singh 'Suman was a noted Hindi Poet and Academician.Upon his death, the then Prime Minister of India, said, "Dr Shiv Mangal Singh ‘Suman’ was not only a powerful signature in the field of Hindi poetry, but he was also the custodian of the collective consciousness of his time...
have been close relatives of Arjun Singh.
Death
Arjun Singh died on 4 March 2011, at the age of 80. The former central minister's condition was critical and had been admitted in Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) a few days previously with chest neurologicalNeurological disorder
A neurological disorder is a disorder of the body's nervous system. Structural, biochemical or electrical abnormalities in the brain, spinal cord, or in the nerves leading to or from them, can result in symptoms such as paralysis, muscle weakness, poor coordination, loss of sensation, seizures,...
problems; Singh complained of breathing problem around 5:30 pm. He suffered a heart attack and died at approximately 6:15 pm. His mortal remains will be cremated at his home town Churhat near Sidhi M.P.
Career
Arjun Singh was a minister in the P.V. Narasimha Rao cabinet but he resigned after the Babri Masjid demolition. At the time, he formed the All India Indira Congress (Tiwari)All India Indira Congress (Tiwari)
The All India Indira Congress was a political party in India set up by dissident Indian National Congress party leaders Narayan Dutt Tiwari, Arjun Singh and K. Natwar Singh. The party later merged with the Congress party when Sonia Gandhi took over the party....
along with Narayan Dutt Tiwari
Narayan Dutt Tiwari
Narayan Dutt Tiwari is an Indian political figure. He was Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh three times during the 1970s and 1980s and was Chief Minister of Uttarkhand from 2002 to 2007...
, former Union minister and ex-CM of Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
and Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand , formerly Uttaranchal, is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the Land of Gods due to the many holy Hindu temples and cities found throughout the state, some of which are among Hinduism's most spiritual and auspicious places of pilgrimage and worship...
(formerly Uttaranchal) as President, but he lost in the 1996 Loksabha elections from Satna
Satna
Satna is a city in central India and a municipal corporation in Satna district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Satna District. Satna is a border city of the state and is touched by the borders of the state of UttarPradesh.-History:Satna got its name...
in Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....
and the Congress too lost power at the center. Later he returned to Congress and lost again from of Hoshangabad
Hoshangabad
Hoshangabad is a city and a municipality in Hoshangabad district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is a city in the central india region, located on the south bank of the Narmada River, and is the administrative center of Hoshangabad District.-History:mohammed bharmal & abdeali batawalaThe...
in Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....
. He served as Chief Minister
Chief Minister
A Chief Minister is the elected head of government of a sub-national state, provinces of Sri Lanka, Pakistan, notably a state of India, a territory of Australia or a British Overseas Territory that has attained self-government...
of Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....
three times, Union minister and Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
of Punjab
Punjab (India)
Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
once for a short period. As Governor of Punjab, he worked for the Rajiv-Longwal Accord for peace in Punjab. He was awarded the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award in 2000.
Bhopal Gas Tragedy
Arjun Singh was the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh when the deadly gas leak from the Union Carbide factoryBhopal disaster
The Bhopal disaster also known as Bhopal Gas Tragedy was a gas leak incident in India, considered one of the world's worst industrial catastrophes. It occurred on the night of December 2–3, 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India...
occurred. It is widely alleged that on the fateful night between December 2, 1984 and December 3, 1984, when the gas leak occurred, Arjun Singh fled to his Kerwa Dam palace (outside Bhopal) to save himself from deadly effects of leaked gas and was not available to manage the crisis or lead the administration. Subsequently the Arjun Singh government's mishandling was criticized by the court in the 7 June 2010 verdict on Bhopal Gas Disaster pronounced by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bhopal. The media raised serious questions about his role in the release of Warren Anderson. In particular, the pilot of the aircraft in which Warren Anderson
Warren Anderson
Warren M. Anderson is a former chairman and chief executive officer of Union Carbide.-Personal life:Anderson was born in 1921 in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn, New York, to Swedish immigrants. He was named after the American president Warren Harding. He later attended the naval pre-flight...
flew out of India after the gas leak, has recorded that the final sanction to permit the flight came from Arjun Singh's office.
Reservation controversy
Additional controversy was created in 2005 by drafting the proposed 104th Amendment Bill to the constitution, which subsequently became the 93rd Amendment. According to this amendment, which has yet to pass the 'Basic StructureBasic structure
The basic structure doctrine is the judge-made principle that certain features of the Constitution of India are beyond the limit of the powers of amendment of the Indian parliament. The doctrine, which was first expressed by the Indian Supreme Court in Kesavananda Bharati v...
' test of constitutionality by the Supreme Court, all private unaided educational institutes could be asked by their State Governments to reserve seats for designated Other Backward Class
Other Backward Class
The Central Government of India classifies some of its citizens based on their social and economic condition as Scheduled Caste , Scheduled Tribe , and Other Backward Class . The OBC list presented by the commission is dynamic and will change from time to time depending on social, educational and...
es. In early 2006, Singh also sought to increase caste-based reservation quotas
Reservation in India
Reservation in India is a form of affirmative action designed to improve the well being of socially backward and underrepresented communities of citizens in India. There are laws in place, wherein a certain percentage of total available slots in Jobs and Education are set aside for people from...
for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the internationally reputed Indian Institutes of Technology
Indian Institutes of Technology
The Indian Institutes of Technology are a group of autonomous engineering and technology-oriented institutes of higher education. The IITs are governed by the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961 which has declared them as “institutions of national importance”, and lays down their powers, duties,...
and Indian Institutes of Management
Indian Institutes of Management
The Indian Institutes of Management , are graduate business schools in India. They were set up with the objective of providing management education and to assist the industry through research and consulting services. The IIMs award diplomas and not degrees.- Institutes :Indian Institute of...
, along with other Indian central government run institutes of higher studies, from 22.5% to 49.5%.
Arjun Singh planned to impose quotas not just in 32 Central institutions, but also in over 100 deemed universities.
He noted, in the context of Dalit
Dalit
Dalit is a designation for a group of people traditionally regarded as Untouchable. Dalits are a mixed population, consisting of numerous castes from all over South Asia; they speak a variety of languages and practice a multitude of religions...
Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
reservations that "the UPA is entirely committed towards the cause of Muslims".These decisions were sighted by many intellectuals as a shameless move to garner the vote bank of the backward classes of Hindus as well as Muslims. Nationwide protests came out in the wake of these eccentric decisions. However the UPA-I government did not succumb to these protests. The opposition parties fearing losing their own vote banks agreed to the draft amendment too.
Churhat lottery case and Kerwa Dam palace
While Arjun Singh was the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, he was involved in the scandal which was called by some the Churhat Lottery case.The Churhat Children Welfare Society was floated in 1982 by relatives of Singh, and permitted to raise funds via lottery, and also given tax relief as a charity. However, there were widespread allegations that a substantial sums were siphoned off and used to construct the lavish
Kerwa
Dam palace near Bhopal. The donations to the society included a Rs 150,000 donation from Union Carbide
Union Carbide
Union Carbide Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company. It currently employs more than 2,400 people. Union Carbide primarily produces chemicals and polymers that undergo one or more further conversions by customers before reaching consumers. Some are high-volume...
, whose chief Warren Anderson
Warren Anderson
Warren M. Anderson is a former chairman and chief executive officer of Union Carbide.-Personal life:Anderson was born in 1921 in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn, New York, to Swedish immigrants. He was named after the American president Warren Harding. He later attended the naval pre-flight...
was permitted to leave the country after the gas leak, allegedly by Arjun Singh's office.
At a public litigation hearing the high court observed that "Arjun
Singh owed an explanation to the nation about the costs and sources of
construction of the palatial mansion in Bhopal". While Singh had claimed the value of the palace was Rs
18 lakh, the IT Department estimated the cost at above Rs one crore
Crore
A crore is a unit in the Indian number system equal to ten million , or 100 lakhs. It is widely used in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan....
.
However, a one-judge commission investigating the scandal gave a clean chit to Arjun Singh. The case was re-opened however, after the Jain Hawala case, and Singh was asked to submit fresh re-estimates of the palace cost.
In court, the case was argued by Kapil Sibal
Kapil Sibal
Kapil Sibal is an Indian politician and lawyer. He is currently the Minister of Communications and Information Technology. He also held the two ministries Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Earth Sciences in the First Manmohan Singh Cabinet...
and the order for re-examination was squashed on the grounds that it had been issued in a haste and "had not applied his mind".
Other controversies
After the Mumbai train bombings of 2006, he reportedly quoted at a Cabinet meeting the statements of a former judge of the Maharashtra High Court that an earlier attempt on the headquarters of the Hindu revivalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in Nagpur had been a plot set into motion by the Sangh itself. This followed his denouncement of the Ekal Vidyalayas, one-teacher schools run for the benefit of the tribals of India by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad., as communal.A case under the Anti-Dowry Act has been registered against Arjun Singh. Mayawati
Mayawati
Mayawati is the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, India. She heads the Bahujan Samaj Party, which represents the Bahujans or Dalits, the weakest strata of Indian society. This is her fourth term as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh...
government has decided to seek CBI
Central Bureau of Investigation
The Central Bureau of Investigation is a government agency of India that serves as a criminal investigation body, national security agency and intelligence agency. It was established on 1 April 1963 and evolved from the Special Police Establishment founded in 1941...
inquiry into dowry harassment case.
Arjun Singh was accused of irregularities and corruption in the grant of Deemed University status to private for-profit educational institutions which did not meet requisite educational standards, during his tenure as Minister for Human Resources Development. The Government of India initiated proceedings to repeal the "Deemed University" status of 44 such institutions in Jan 2010.
Positions held
- 1957-85 Member, Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly Member of the Legislative AssemblyMember of the Legislative AssemblyA Member of the Legislative Assembly or a Member of the Legislature , is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to the legislature or legislative assembly of a sub-national jurisdiction....
- September 1963 - December 1967 Minister of State for Agriculture, General Administration Department (GAD) and Information & Public Relations, Government of Madhya Pradesh
- 1967 Minister of Planning and Development, Government of Madhya Pradesh
- 1972-77 Minister of Education, Government of Madhya Pradesh
- 1977-80 Leader of Opposition, Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly
- 1980-85 Chief Minister, Madhya Pradesh
- March - November 1985 Governor of Punjab
- February 1988 - January 1989 Chief Minister, Madhya Pradesh
- June 1991 - December 1994 Minister of Human Resource Development, Government of India
- June 1991 - May 1996 Member from SatnaSatna (Lok Sabha constituency)Satna Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 29 Lok Sabha constituencies in Madhya Pradesh state in central India. This constituency presently covers the entire Satna district of the state.-Assembly segments:...
, Tenth Lok Sabha - June 1996 - Lost from SatnaSatna (Lok Sabha constituency)Satna Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 29 Lok Sabha constituencies in Madhya Pradesh state in central India. This constituency presently covers the entire Satna district of the state.-Assembly segments:...
, Eleventh Lok Sabha - April 1998 - Lost from Hoshangabad, Twelfth Lok Sabha
- April 2000 Elected to Rajya Sabha
- 15 May 2000 - February 2004 Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Home Affairs
- 31 August 2001- July 2004 Member, Committee on Rules
- April 2002 - February 2004 Chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Purposes Committee
- 22 May 2004 - May 2009 Minister of Human Resource
He was re-elected to the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh without opposition on March 20, 2006.
See also
- 2006 Indian anti-reservation protests2006 Indian anti-reservation protestsThe anti-caste-based-reservation protests 2006, that took place in parts of India, were in opposition to the decision of the Union Government of India, the multiparty coalition 'United Progressive Alliance' , to implement reservations for Other Backward Classes in central and private institutes of...
- Reservation in IndiaReservation in IndiaReservation in India is a form of affirmative action designed to improve the well being of socially backward and underrepresented communities of citizens in India. There are laws in place, wherein a certain percentage of total available slots in Jobs and Education are set aside for people from...
- Forward caste
External links
- HRD Ministry's website
- Arjun Singh's Rajya Sabha webpage
- http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:VGLNctzi4tIJ:www.dailyexcelsior.com/00feb04/edit.htm+Churhat+Lottery&hl=en&gl=nz&ct=clnk&cd=18
- http://www.hinduonnet.com/businessline/2000/12/02/stories/120264tc.htm
- Arjun singh's recent interview with Karan Thapar on reservation issue
- Hindustan Times : Arjun Singh, always in the race but never the king