Smt. Margaret Alva – a lawyer, parliamentarian and former Union Minister -- is credited with steering several landmark legislations through the Indian parliament to improve the position of women in society and polity. While unflinchingly advocating an ‘inclusive India’ guided by Constitutional values, Smt. Alva -- in her gubernatorial role -- sees herself as a ‘Friend, Philosopher and Guide’ to the State Government.
Beginning her political
career as the only woman Block President in Karnataka after the split of 1969,
she went on to head the Congress Party’s women’s wing in Karnataka in 1972. She
soon moved on to become the General Secretary of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress
Committee. Two years later, Smt. Alva, 32, was elected to the Rajya Sabha.
Thereafter, there was no turning back.
As a Member of Parliament
– Rajya Sabha (1974 - 98) and Lok Sabha (1999 -2004) – Smt. Alva served on
several parliamentary committees. She was appointed Union Minister of State for
Parliamentary Affairs in the Rajiv Gandhi Government in 1984, later moving to
the Ministry of Human Resource Development in charge of Youth Affairs and
Sports, Women and Child Development. In 1991 she was appointed Union Minister
of State for Personnel, Pensions, Public Grievances and Administrative Reforms
(attached to the Prime Minister). She also served as Minister for Science &
Technology for a brief period.
Smt. Alva spearheaded some
major legislative amendments passed by the Indian Parliament involving women's
rights, the most important being reservation of quotas for women in local
bodies. She steered legislation on Indecent Representation of Women
(Prohibition) and amendments to the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, and the
Suppression of Immoral Traffic Act, 1956. She also helped draft the National
Perspective Plan for Women – a blueprint for policies for empowerment of women,
which has been adopted as a guide by Union and state governments. Several far
reaching reforms in the sports management and infrastructure fields took shape
with her efforts. As Minister of State for Personnel, Smt. Alva initiated the
process of administrative decentralization, taking governance to the grass
roots.
In 2004, Smt. Alva’s parliamentary
experience was tapped by the Indian Parliament with her appointment as Advisor
to the Bureau of Parliamentary Studies and Training, a body set up to help
improve standards of legislative functioning in Parliament and State Assemblies
by training newly elected MPs and MLAs in their work. She simultaneously served
as General Secretary of the AICC for five years. On completion of this
assignment (2004-09), Smt. Alva was appointed the Governor of Uttarakhand in
2009. She moved to Rajasthan, as Governor, in 2012.
With the Constitution of
India enjoining upon Governors of States with sizeable tribal population to
monitor progress in Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) areas, Smt. Alva – carrying forward a
proposal mooted by her predecessor Shri Shivraj Patil –set up a Tribal Cell in
Raj Bhawan, Jaipur. Having visited most of the tribal districts of Rajasthan,
Smt. Alva has been communicating her suggestions on tribal development issues
to the State Government for follow-up action.
Smt. Alva, Member of
Parliament for 30 years, confesses to being a “reluctant politician”. “My
husband, Niranjan Alva, whose parents Joachim and Violet Alva, freedom
fighters, were the first couple in the Indian Parliament, persuaded me to
accept Karnataka Congress’ appointment to lead its women’s wing in 1972”. Smt.
Alva and her husband – both lawyers -- practiced in the Supreme Court. She has
represented India at several international conferences. Recipient of several
Awards for contribution to public life, Smt. Alva has lectured at, among others,
Harvard and Columbia Universities.
A painter, interior
decorator and social worker by temperament, Smt. Alva enjoys being among
people. She lives with her husband and values time spent with her three sons a
daughter and their nine children.
Detailed Profile
Father's Name : Late
Shri P.A. Nazareth
Mother's Name : Smt.
E.L. Nazareth
Date of Birth : 14
April 1942
Place of Birth : Mangalore,
Distt. South Kanara (Karnataka)
Marital Status : Married
Date of Marriage: 24
May 1964
Spouse's Name : Shri
Niranjan Alva
No. of Sons : Three
No. of Daughters: One
Educational Qualification : B.A.,
B.L., Hon. Doctorate Educated at Mt. Carmel College and Government Law College,
Bangalore (Karnataka)
Profession : Advocate,
Social Worker, Trade Unionist
Address : Raj
Bhawan, Civil Lines, Jaipur (Rajasthan)
Telephone No. : +91-141-2228716
Fax No. : +91-141-2228737
Membership of Parliament
1974 - 1980 : Member,
Rajya Sabha
1980 - 1986 : Member,
Rajya Sabha
1986 - 1992 : Member,
Rajya Sabha
1992 - 1998 : Member,
Rajya Sabha
1999 - 2004 : Member,
13th Lok Sabha
Positions Held
1972-73 : Convenor,
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Women’s Front
1974-80 : Member,
Rajya Sabha; Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry
of External Affairs
1975-76 and 1990-91 : Member,
Congress Parliamentary Party Executive; Member, Committee on Information and
Broadcasting
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
Convenor, Mahila Congress
1984 : Member,
Committee on Public Undertakings; Union Minister of State, Parliamentary Affairs;
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
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,
Standing 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, General Purposes Committee
2000-2004 : Chairman,
Committee on the Empowerment of Women
2000 - 2004 : Member,
Consultative Committee, Ministry of Tourism Standing Committee on Science &
Technology and Environment & Forests
2004 - 2009 : General
Secretary, All India Congress Committee; Advisor to the Bureau of Parliamentary
Studies & Training
06-08-2009 - 11-05-2012 : Governor
of Uttarakhand
12-05-2012 onwards : Governor
of Rajasthan
Awards and Honours
• Honorary
Degree of Doctor of Literature by the University of Mysore in recognition of
contribution to National Development;
• Rajiv
Gandhi Excellence Award for achievements in public life;
• First
Nelson Mandela Award for Minority Empowerment, awarded by the International
Foundation for Minority Empowerment (with consultative status with the UN) at a
ceremony at the UN Church Centre in New York;
• Global
Leadership Award by Vital Voices Global Partnership, presented at the Kennedy
Centre in Washington DC.
• Honoured
by the President of South Africa H.E. Thabo Mbeki during his visit to India,
for support to the African National Congress during their struggle for freedom.
• Elected
President of the World Women Parliamentarians for Peace (WWPP) in 1986;
• Invited
by the UN Women's Division to chair the Group of Experts Meeting to assess the
impact of the Decade for Women in decision making and chair a similar Experts
Meeting on Violence against Women in 1989;
• Elected
President of the ESCAP meet on Violence against Women in Seoul in 1992;
• Invited
to the Eminent Persons Meet organised by ESCAP in Bangkok in 1994.
• Member
of the Special Advisory Group of UNFPA set up to re-orient Population Policies
as follow up to the Cairo Conference and was part of the Commonwealth Observers
Team for the National election in Cameroon in 1997.
• Elected
Member of the Governing Council of the Society for International Development
(SID), Rome, and served on its Executive for three years.
Representing India
• Represented
India at all the major conferences during the UN Decade for Women, 1975-86.
• On
the national delegation to the UN General Assembly in 1976 and 1997;
• Represented
India at meetings of the Commission on the Status of Women at the U.N.;
• Served
on the Expert Group set up by UNICEF to draft a country code on the Rights of
the Child in 1999;
• Served
on the National Committee on Child Labour and was Vice Chairperson of the
National Children's Board;
• Member
of the delegation accompanying the then President Giani Zail Singh to
Mauritius;
• Member
of the delegation accompanying the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to the
Soviet Union;
• Member
of the delegation accompanying the then Prime Minister P.V.Narsaimha Rao to the
World Social Summit, Copenhagen;
• Member
of the delegation accompanying the then Vice President Shri K.R. Narayanan to
Australia.
• Part
of the delegation that petitioned Disarmament at the historic Reagan-Gorbachev
Summit in Washington.
Artistic Accomplishments
Courses in oil painting,
interior decoration and Ikebana
Social and Cultural
Activities
Founder President,
"Karuna", a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) working for women and
children
Special Interests
Foreign affairs and
women's development issues
Favourite Pastime and
Recreation
Painting, music, drama and
travel
Sports and Clubs
Member: (i) India
International Centre; (ii) Delhi Gymkhana Club; and (iii) Bangalore Club
Countries Visited
Visited over 60 countries
Contact Details
Raj Bhawan Rajasthan
Raj Bhawan,
Civil Lines, Jaipur,
Rajasthan.
Phone No.: 0141--2228716-19
Email ID: rbjposdhe@gmail.com
Website : http://www.rajbhawan.rajasthan.gov.in/
