Shashi Panja is a medical practitioner and politician who currently serves as

Cabinet Minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

for Industries, Commerce & Enterprises and Department of Women and Child Development and Social Welfare of the

Government of West Bengal The Government of West Bengal also known as the West Bengal Government, is the subnational government of the Indian state of West Bengal , created by the National Constitution as the state's legislative, executive and judicial authority. The ...

Early life

Panja born in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

(

తెలుగు Telugu (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken by Telugu people predominantly living in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where it is also the official language. It is the most widely spoken member of the Dravidian language fam ...

) family to Krishnayya (immigrated from Andhra) in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

. She did her MBBS from

R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital is a government owned medical college and hospital in Shyambazar, Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It was established in 1886 to ensure self-sufficiency (Swaraj) in medical education and services in the coloni ...

at Kolkata, with specialisation in ultrasound and infertility practice. She married Dr. Prasun Kumar Panja, son of the veteran politician

Ajit Kumar Panja Ajit Kumar Panja (13 September 1936 – 14 November 2008) was a Union minister of state in the Government of India. He was a member of Indian National Congress party but left it to join Trinamool Congress. He was born in Calcutta, and studied ...

Political career

Panja was elected a councillor of Kolkata Municipal Corporation in 2010 and was appointed mayoral council member in charge of education. She was elected to the West Bengal State Assembly from

Shyampukur (Vidhan Sabha constituency) Shyampukur Assembly constituency is a Vidhan Sabha, Legislative Assembly constituency of Kolkata district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of West Bengal. Overview As per orders of the Delimitation Commission of India, Deli ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

and re-elected in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

and

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

from same constituency. She was inducted into the Council of Ministers of West Bengal as a

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 ...

and given independent charge of the women & child welfare ministry in December 2013. In May 2014, she was given additional charge of the social welfare department. In 2021 she was sworn in as the cabinet minister as a part of the 21st Council of Ministers for the state of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

under the leadership of

Mamata Banerjee Mamata Banerjee (; born 5 January 1955) is an Indian politician who is serving as the eighth and current List of chief ministers of West Bengal, chief minister of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal since 20 ...

with the portfolios of Department of Women and Child Development and Social Welfare.

References

1963 births Trinamool Congress politicians from West Bengal Women in West Bengal politics Living people West Bengal MLAs 2011–2016 Politicians from Kolkata 21st-century Indian women politicians 21st-century Indian politicians West Bengal MLAs 2016–2021 {{WestBengal-politician-stub