Firdous Ashiq Awan ( Punjabi, ur, , born 11 January 1970) is a Pakistani politician from

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI; ur, , ) is a political party in Pakistan. It was founded in 1996 by Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, who served as the country's prime minister from 2018 to 2022. The PTI is one of the thre ...

. She has served as Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting from 2019 to 2020, Federal Minister for National Regulations and Services from 2012 to 2013, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting from 2011 to 2012 and as Federal Minister for Population Welfare from 2008 to 2010. She served as the Special Assistant to the Chief Minister of Punjab on Information and Culture, in office from November 2020 to 6 August 2021.

Family life and education

Awan was born on 11 January 1970 in

Sialkot Sialkot ( ur, ) is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of Sialkot District and the 13th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined with Jammu (the winter capital of Indian administered Jammu and Ka ...

West Pakistan West Pakistan ( ur, , translit=Mag̱ẖribī Pākistān, ; bn, পশ্চিম পাকিস্তান, translit=Pôścim Pakistan) was one of the two Provincial exclaves created during the One Unit Scheme in 1955 in Pakistan. It was d ...

. She is married to businessman Malik Amjad Awan and is a mother of two children. Awan attended

Fatima Jinnah Medical University Fatima Jinnah Medical University ( ur, ), previously known as Balak Ram Medical College, is a public medical university located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Fatima Jinnah Medical University with its associated teaching hospital Sir Ganga Ram ...

for her medical degree,

MBBS Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United King ...

. She started her career from Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. Awan took interest in social works and started Society for Health And Development Exchange (SHADE) in the early 1990s for public welfare.

Political career

Awan started her political career in 1990 when she founded the Society for Health and Development and Exchange and advocated for improving the healthcare system. In 2002 she was elected to the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

on a reserved seat on

PML (Q) The Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid e Azam Group) ur, ; ''Pākistān Muslim Līg (Qāf)'', Acronyms: PML(Q), PML-Q, PMLQ, "Q League") is a Conservative nationalist political party in Pakistan. As of the 2018 parliamentary election, it has a re ...

ticket. In 2008, she was again elected to the National Assembly from NA-111-Sialkot-II, having joined the

Pakistan People's Party The Pakistan People's Party ( ur, , ; PPP) is a centre-left, social-democratic political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third largest party in the National Assembly and second largest in the Senate of Pakistan. The party was founded i ...

. She bagged 77,834 votes against her opponent Chaudhry Ameer Hussain from

, 45,704 votes. After being elected she was appointed as Minister for Population welfare in PPP's cabinet. Awan was later given the portfolio of Information ministry in PPP's regime. She presented her resignation to

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Yousef Raza Gilani Yusuf Raza Gilani (Urdu: ; born 9 June 1952), is a Pakistani politician who served as 18th Prime Minister of Pakistan from 25 March 2008, until his retroactive disqualification and ouster by the Supreme Court of Pakistan on 26 April 2012. He ...

on 25 December 2011, during the Special Federal

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

Meeting. It was later declined by the Prime Minister after holding a one-to-one meeting with Awan. On 18 April 2012,

Qamar Zaman Kaira Qamar Zaman Kaira ( ur, ; born 5 January 1960) is the former Minister of Information and Mass-Media Broadcasting in the Government of Pakistan. He is Incumbent advisor on Kashmir Affairs to current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Before headi ...

was appointed as the new Federal Minister of Information and Broadcasting, while former information minister Firdous Ashiq Awan was reassigned the Ministry of National Regulations and Services. She resigned from PPP's vice presidency in 2015, On 30 May 2017, she joined

Nathia Gali Nathia Gali or Nathiagali ( ur, ) is a hill station and mountain resort town located in the Abbottabad District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is located at the centre of the Galyat range, where several hill stations are situated. Nat ...

. In

2018 Pakistani general election General elections were held in Pakistan on Wednesday, 25 July 2018 to elect the members of 15th National Assembly and the four Provincial Assemblies. The three major parties Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led by Imran Khan, the Pakistan Muslim ...

she lost her seat on

's ticket in NA-72 (Sialkot-I) by obtaining 91,393 votes against

Pakistan Muslim League (N) The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) ( ur, , translit=Pākistān Muslim Līg (Nūn) PML(N) or PML-N) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right and Liberal conservatism, liberal conservative political party in Pakistan. Alongside the Pakistan Teh ...

's Armaghan Subhani who secured 129,041 votes. She was appointed as special assistant to Prime Minister

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi ( ur}; born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former Cricket captain who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to until April 2022, when he was ousted through a no-confidenc ...

for Information and Broadcasting on 18 April 2019, after the cabinet reshuffle, remaining in the office until 27 April 2020. On 2 November 2020 she was appointed as special assistant to Chief Minister of Punjab

Usman Buzdar Sardar Usman Ahmad Khan Buzdar ( ur, ; born 1 May 1969) is a Pakistani politician and previously served as Chief Minister of The Punjab from 20 August 2018 to 30 April 2022. He has been a member of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab since Aug ...

for Information. She resigned from her post on 6 August 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Awan, Firdous Ashiq Living people 1970 births Pakistan People's Party MNAs Pakistan Muslim League (Q) MNAs 21st-century Pakistani women politicians Women members of the National Assembly of Pakistan Women federal ministers of Pakistan Pakistani MNAs 2002–2007 Pakistani MNAs 2008–2013 Imran Khan administration Information Ministers of Pakistan