Pawan Kumar Bansal (born 16 July 1948) is an

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

politician, appointed interim treasurer in November 2020 and a former minister in the

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (; born 26 September 1932) is an Indian politician, economist and statesman who served as the 13th prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He is also the third longest-serving prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indir ...

government. He represented

Chandigarh Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which al ...

constituency in the

15th Lok Sabha Members of the 15th Lok Sabha were elected during the 2009 general election in India. It was dissolved on 18 May 2014 by President Pranab Mukherjee. Indian National Congress-led United Progressive Alliance won 44 more seats than the previou ...

(2009-2014) of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. He served as

Minister of Railways A Ministry of Railways is a Cabinet department that exists or has existed in many Commonwealth states as well as others. It generally occurs in countries where railroad transportation is a particularly important part of the national infrastructur ...

from 28 October 2012 to 10 May 2013.

Early life

Bansal was born on 16 July 1948 in

Sunam Sunam Udham Singh Wala is a town and a tehsil, near city of Sangrur in Sangrur district in the Indian state of Punjab. The city of Sunam Udham Singh Wala, which falls in Sunam Udham Singh Wala tehsil, was previously known only as Sunam. The ...

. His family hailed from

Tapa Tapa, TAPA, Tapas or Tapasya may refer to: Media *Tapas (website), a webtoon site, formerly known as Tapastic * ''Tapas'' (film), a 2005 Spanish film * ''Tapasya'' (1976 film), an Indian Hindi-language film * ''Tapasya'' (1992 film), a Nepalese f ...

, Punjab. He went to school at the Yadavindra Public School, Patiala, and did BSc from the Post Graduate Government College, Sector 11, Chandigarh. He also holds an LLB degree from the Department of Law,

Panjab University, Chandigarh Panjab University (PU) is a collegiate public state university located in Chandigarh, Punjab. Funded through both State and Union governments, it is considered a state university. It traces its origins to the University of the Punjab in Laho ...

Career

Bansal has represented

as a member of

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in the 10th, 13th, 14th and 15th Lok Sabha. He has worked as the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and the Minister of Water Resources in the

Second Manmohan Singh ministry The Second ministry of Manmohan Singh came into existence after the general election in 2009. The results of the election were announced on 16 May 2009 and led to the formation of the 15th Lok Sabha. Manmohan Singh took the oath as the 13th ...

. He also held the charge of the

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

for

Finance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...

and

Parliamentary Affairs ''Parliamentary Affairs'' is a British peer-reviewed quarterly academic journal. Founded in 1947, it focuses on the government and politics of the United Kingdom, and also covers parliamentary systems across the world. It is published by the Oxf ...

in the

First Manmohan Singh Cabinet The First Ministry of Manmohan Singh was the first Union Council of Ministers of India under the Prime Ministership of Dr. Manmohan Singh. It was formed after the 2004 Indian general election held in four phases during 20 April - 10 May 2004, to ...

Railway Minister

He took over as the

Railway Minister A Ministry of Railways is a Cabinet department that exists or has existed in many Commonwealth states as well as others. It generally occurs in countries where railroad transportation is a particularly important part of the national infrastructure. ...

, becoming the first from his

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature f ...

since 1996. Soon after becoming Railways minister, he approved an increase in fares, which had been unchanged for the last 15 years, to allow the Indian Railways to be profitable. He contested the 2014

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

Elections from

Railway Budget 2013

The 2013

Railway Budget Railway budget of India was the Annual Financial Statement of the state-owned Indian Railways, which handles rail transport in India. It was presented every year by the Minister of Railways, representing the Ministry of Railways, in the Parliam ...

focused on improving the condition of Indian Railways. Pawan Bansal came up with first ever rail link to connect

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares int ...

. Internet ticketing from 0030 hours to 2330 hours as well as E-ticketing through mobile phones was made available. Four companies of women RPF personnel set up and another 8 to be set up to strengthen the security of rail passengers, especially women passengers.

Railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

has identified 104 stations for upgradation in cities with more than one million population and of religious significance. This means, these stations the Railways will give attention to all aspects related to cleanliness, according to the Budget highlights the government released. 179 escalators and 400 lifts at A-1 and other major stations to be installed facilitating elderly and differently-able.

Personal life

He is married to Madhu Bansal. They have two sons.

Incident of corruption charges

On 3 May 2013, the CBI arrested his nephew, Vijay Singla, after they caught an aide counting two bags of cash. After the scam came to light in May, the CBI interrogated Pawan Kumar Bansal, Congress MP from Chandigarh, for ten hours, but failed to find substantial evidence to nail him. In his statement, Bansal denied having any knowledge of his nephew's activities. CBI does not have any tapped conversation which shows that former Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal was involved in or had any knowledge of the Rs 10 crore cash for post bribery scandal, which prompted the agency not to make him an accused in the case, sources said here today. The CBI said that Mr Bansal will serve as prosecution witness. The judge has responded. "If the CBI has chosen to make Mr Bansal a witness, then at this juncture, there being no evidence against him, the court cannot pass any order or question him, except during the trial."http://daily.bhaskar.com/news/NAT-TOP-pawan-bansal-is-not-off-the-hook-judge-slams-cbi-clean-chit-to-former-railway-mi-4325064-NOR.html

References

External links

Railway Ministers of India {{DEFAULTSORT:Bansal, Pawan Kumar 1948 births Living people Indian National Congress politicians People from Sangrur district People from Sangrur India MPs 2004–2009 Union ministers of state of India Members of the Cabinet of India India MPs 1991–1996 India MPs 1999–2004 India MPs 2009–2014 Lok Sabha members from Chandigarh United Progressive Alliance candidates in the 2014 Indian general election