Vilasrao Deshmukh
Encyclopedia
Vilasrao Dagadojirao Deshmukh (born May 26, 1945), popularly known as Vilasrao is the current Minister of Science and Technology
and Minister of Earth Sciences
.
He has previously held the posts of Minister of Rural Development and Minister of Panchayati Raj
, Government of India
and Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises
, Government of India
. He is member of Rajya Sabha representing Maharashtra. He was also a two-time Chief Minister of Maharashtra, from 1999 to 2003 and from 2004 to 2008. He is a member of the Indian National Congress
and originally belongs to Latur district
in the Marathwada
region of the state of Maharashtra
.
) and Arts (B.A.
) from M.E.S Abasaheb Garware College, (Pune University) and went on to study law (L.L.B.) from the ILS Law College
(Pune University). He started social activities in his early youth with particular interest in drought relief work. He was elected as the Director of the Osmanabad district
Central Cooperative Bank and also of the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank in 1979.
His wife is Vaishali Deshmukh, and he has three sons from her, Amit Deshmukh
who is a MLA of Latur city, Ritesh and Dheeraj. His son Ritesh Deshmukh is an actor in Bollywood
movies.
He has one younger brother Diliprao Deshmukh
, who is a MLC and served as Minister of Relief, Rehabilitation, Sports, Youth Welfare and Protocol. in the Maharashtra
Government.
(village chief) from 1974 to 1976. He was a member of Osmanabad Zilla Parishad
and Deputy Chairman of Latur Taluka Panchayat Samiti (Latur District Panchayat Committee) from 1974 to 1980.
As a President of Osmanabad District Youth Congress from 1975 to 1978, he worked for the implementation of Five Point Programme of the Youth Congress. He organised the youth in Osmanabad district and became President of District wing of the Indian National Congress
.
He was Member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly
from 1980 to 1995 winning 1980, 1985 and 1990 elections. During this period, as the Minister of State and the Cabinet Minister, Deshmukh handled departments such as Home, General Administration, Cooperation, Public Works, Transport, Legislative Affairs, Tourism, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development Fisheries, Industry, Rural Development, Education, Technical Education, Sports and Youth Welfare,
He has been a minister in various governments in Maharashtra from 1982 to 1995 holding portfolios of revenue, cooperation, agriculture, home, industries and education.
He lost the elections in 1995 with a margin of 35,000. He was re-elected to the State Legislature from Latur Constituency in the elections held in September 1999 with a strong comeback winning with a margin of nearly 91,000 in two successive election, the highest in Maharashtra. He took oath as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra on October 18, 1999. He was Chief Minister till 17 January 2003, but had to step down in January 2003 and make way for Sushilkumar Shinde
, a prominent Dalit member of Congress, following factionalism in the state unit of the party.
He was re-elected to the State Legislative Assembly from Latur Constituency in the Elections held in October 2004.
He took oath of Chief Ministership for the second time on November 1, 2004. In this position he was condemned by the Supreme Court for interference in shielding MLA Dilip Kumar Sananda and his family from money lending complaints by poor farmers.
In the aftermath of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, he took the moral responsibility and offered to resign, which was then accepted by the party.
He subsequently entered the Rajya Sabha
and was appointed to the Council of Ministers as Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises by Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh
on 28 May 2009.
He was appointed as Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises
on 19 January 2011 cabinet reshuffle. Later on he was appointed Minister of Rural Development.
He was appointed as Minister of Science and Technology
and Minister of Earth Sciences
on July 12, 2011
. Some of them are Manajara Ayurvedic Medical College & Hospital Latur
, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology at Versova
, Andheri in Mumbai and Sushiladevi Deshmukh Vidyalaya at Airoli
, Navi Mumbai
.
His interests include reading, classical music, volleyball and table tennis.
(2011-onwards). In the election he closely beat former cricketer Dilip Vengsarkar
.
Ministry of Science and Technology (India)
The Ministry of Science and Technology is the Indian government ministry charged with formulation and administration of the rules and regulations and laws relating to science and technology in India.The current minister is Shri Vilasrao Deshmukh....
and Minister of Earth Sciences
Ministry of Earth Sciences (India)
The Ministry of Earth Sciences formed in 2006 from a merger of the India Meteorological Department , the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting , the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology , Pune , and Earth Risk Evaluation Centre , and the Ministry of Ocean Development. It is one...
.
He has previously held the posts of Minister of Rural Development and Minister of Panchayati Raj
Ministry of Rural Development (India)
The Ministry of Rural Development, a branch of the Government of India, is entrusted with the task of accelerating the socio-economic development of rural India. Its focus is on health, education, drinking water, housing and roads.-History:...
, Government of India
Government of India
The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...
and Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises
Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises
The Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, a branch of Government of India, administers 48 Central Public Sector Enterprises and assists them in their effort to improve capacity utilisation & increase profitability, Generate resources and Re-orient strategies to become more competitive...
, Government of India
Government of India
The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...
. He is member of Rajya Sabha representing Maharashtra. He was also a two-time Chief Minister of Maharashtra, from 1999 to 2003 and from 2004 to 2008. He is a member of the Indian National Congress
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...
and originally belongs to Latur district
Latur District
Latur district is a district in Maharashtra state of India. Latur city is the district headquarters. In the last census on 2001, the total population of the district was 2,080,285. Urban population comprises 20.08% of the total population...
in the Marathwada
Marathwada
The name Marathwada identifies one of the five regions in Maharashtra state of India. The region coincides with the Aurangabad Division.-Historical highlights:...
region of the state of Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
.
Early life and family
Deshmukh was born on May 26, 1945 in Babhalgaon in the Latur district. He graduated with a degree in Science (B.Sc.Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
) and Arts (B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
) from M.E.S Abasaheb Garware College, (Pune University) and went on to study law (L.L.B.) from the ILS Law College
ILS Law College
Indian Law Society's Law College, more commonly known as ILS Law College is a Law schools based in Pune, India. It was established in 1924 and offers a wide range of courses, primarily 3-year and 5-year degrees. It is one of the oldest as well as most reputed legal institutions in India...
(Pune University). He started social activities in his early youth with particular interest in drought relief work. He was elected as the Director of the Osmanabad district
Osmanabad district
-Osmanabad district is an administrative district in the state of Maharashtra in India. The district headquarters are located at Osmanabad, erstwhile Dharashiv . Temple of goddess Tuljabhavani at Tulajapur is famous in India...
Central Cooperative Bank and also of the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank in 1979.
His wife is Vaishali Deshmukh, and he has three sons from her, Amit Deshmukh
Amit Deshmukh
Amit Vilasrao Deshmukh , popularly known as Amit Bhaiya, is a Member of Legislative Assembly from Maharashtra in the Government of Maharashtra from Latur City...
who is a MLA of Latur city, Ritesh and Dheeraj. His son Ritesh Deshmukh is an actor in 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...
movies.
He has one younger brother Diliprao Deshmukh
Diliprao Deshmukh
Diliprao Dagdojirao Deshmukh Graduated with a Masters degree in Arts from Fergusson College, and went on to join Social work and Rural development. He started his career in village Babalgaon as a Sarpanch in 1976 He is an Ex Minister of state Finance and Planning Maharashtra, from 2003 to 2004...
, who is a MLC and served as Minister of Relief, Rehabilitation, Sports, Youth Welfare and Protocol. in the Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
Government.
Political career
Deshmukh entered active politics and became member of the Babhalgaon Village Panchayat from 1974 to 1979 and its SarpanchSarpanch
A sarpanch is a democratically elected head of a village level statutory institution of local self-government called the gram panchayat in India and Pakistan. He, together with other elected Panchas , constitute the Gram Panchayat. The Sarpanch is the focal point of contact between government...
(village chief) from 1974 to 1976. He was a member of Osmanabad Zilla Parishad
Zilla Parishad
Zilla Parishad is a local government body at the district level in India. It looks after the administration of the rural area of the district and its office is located at the district headquarters...
and Deputy Chairman of Latur Taluka Panchayat Samiti (Latur District Panchayat Committee) from 1974 to 1980.
As a President of Osmanabad District Youth Congress from 1975 to 1978, he worked for the implementation of Five Point Programme of the Youth Congress. He organised the youth in Osmanabad district and became President of District wing of the Indian National Congress
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...
.
He was Member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly
Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha
The Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha or the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is situated in the Nariman Point area of South Mumbai in the capital Mumbai...
from 1980 to 1995 winning 1980, 1985 and 1990 elections. During this period, as the Minister of State and the Cabinet Minister, Deshmukh handled departments such as Home, General Administration, Cooperation, Public Works, Transport, Legislative Affairs, Tourism, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development Fisheries, Industry, Rural Development, Education, Technical Education, Sports and Youth Welfare,
He has been a minister in various governments in Maharashtra from 1982 to 1995 holding portfolios of revenue, cooperation, agriculture, home, industries and education.
He lost the elections in 1995 with a margin of 35,000. He was re-elected to the State Legislature from Latur Constituency in the elections held in September 1999 with a strong comeback winning with a margin of nearly 91,000 in two successive election, the highest in Maharashtra. He took oath as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra on October 18, 1999. He was Chief Minister till 17 January 2003, but had to step down in January 2003 and make way for Sushilkumar Shinde
Sushilkumar Shinde
Sushilkumar Shinde is an Indian politician from the state of Maharashtra. He is currently the Cabinet Minister for Power in the Manmohan Singh government.-Dalit background:...
, a prominent Dalit member of Congress, following factionalism in the state unit of the party.
He was re-elected to the State Legislative Assembly from Latur Constituency in the Elections held in October 2004.
He took oath of Chief Ministership for the second time on November 1, 2004. In this position he was condemned by the Supreme Court for interference in shielding MLA Dilip Kumar Sananda and his family from money lending complaints by poor farmers.
In the aftermath of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, he took the moral responsibility and offered to resign, which was then accepted by the party.
He subsequently entered the Rajya Sabha
Rajya Sabha
The Rajya Sabha or Council of States is the upper house of the Parliament of India. Rajya means "state," and Sabha means "assembly hall" in Sanskrit. Membership is limited to 250 members, 12 of whom are chosen by the President of India for their expertise in specific fields of art, literature,...
and was appointed to the Council of Ministers as Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises by Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
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...
on 28 May 2009.
He was appointed as Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises
Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises
The Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, a branch of Government of India, administers 48 Central Public Sector Enterprises and assists them in their effort to improve capacity utilisation & increase profitability, Generate resources and Re-orient strategies to become more competitive...
on 19 January 2011 cabinet reshuffle. Later on he was appointed Minister of Rural Development.
He was appointed as Minister of Science and Technology
Ministry of Science and Technology (India)
The Ministry of Science and Technology is the Indian government ministry charged with formulation and administration of the rules and regulations and laws relating to science and technology in India.The current minister is Shri Vilasrao Deshmukh....
and Minister of Earth Sciences
Ministry of Earth Sciences (India)
The Ministry of Earth Sciences formed in 2006 from a merger of the India Meteorological Department , the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting , the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology , Pune , and Earth Risk Evaluation Centre , and the Ministry of Ocean Development. It is one...
on July 12, 2011
Foreign Tour
Deshmukh had an opportunity to visit Japan, Thailand, Philippines, Taiwan and Hong Kong in 1980, to study Cooperative Movement in Amsterdam, Netherland and Agricultural Development. He also visited West Germany, France, England, United States and Japan in 1981. As the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, he led an official delegation in May 2000, to US and UK and visited New York, Los Angeles, San Jose, Washington and London to interact with the investors to bring investment to Maharashtra.Manjra Project
From April 1995 to October 17, 1999, Vilasrao kept himself engaged in expansion of the Manjra Co-op. Sugar Mill. The Mill established a world record in 1994-95 and in 1997-98 by crushing the highest quantity of sugarcane . It has won 34 awards on national and international level for excellence in production and management .Educational activities
Deshmukh founded the Manjra Charitable Trust which runs a number of colleges in Latur & MumbaiMumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
. Some of them are Manajara Ayurvedic Medical College & Hospital Latur
Manajara Ayurvedic Medical College & Hospital Latur
Manjara Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital , Latur, was established in the year 1999 by educationist and social reformer Hon. Vilasrao Deshmukh as a part of MCT Educational Society...
, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology at Versova
Versova
Versova may refer to:* Versova - an upmarket neighbourhood of Mumbai* Madh Fort, also known as Versova Fort, in northern Mumbai.* Versova, Greece - a town in Greece...
, Andheri in Mumbai and Sushiladevi Deshmukh Vidyalaya at Airoli
Airoli
Airoli is the fifth most developed residential suburb of Navi Mumbai. It is connected to Navi Mumbai's most developed neighborhoods, Vashi and Nerul with city bus and local train services...
, Navi Mumbai
Navi Mumbai
Navi Mumbai is a Planned Satellite City on the west coast of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It was developed in 1972 as a twin city of Mumbai, and is the largest planned city on the planet, with under the jurisdiction of the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation and a total area of . Navi Mumbai...
.
His interests include reading, classical music, volleyball and table tennis.
Mumbai Cricket Association
On 15 July 2011 Deshmukh was elected President of the Mumbai Cricket AssociationMumbai Cricket Association
The Mumbai cricket Association or MCA is the governing body for cricket in Mumbai and its surrounding regions like Thane and Navi Mumbai. The association comes under west zone .The Association was established in 1930 and has a sound ConstitutionThe Mumbai cricket team is the team for The Mumbai...
(2011-onwards). In the election he closely beat former cricketer Dilip Vengsarkar
Dilip Vengsarkar
Dilip Balwant Vengsarkar is an Indian cricketer and cricket administrator. He was one of the most stylish batsmen of his time, known as one of the foremost exponents of the drive. He was also known by the nickname 'Colonel'....
.