Jitendra Singh Rana is an Indian physician and politician who is serving as the 18th Minister of Science and Technology and Minister of Earth Sciences since 2024. For Prime Minister's Office; Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions;

Department of Atomic Energy The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) (IAST: ''Paramāṇu Ūrjā Vibhāga'') is an Indian government department with headquarters in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. DAE was established in 1954 with Jawaharlal Nehru as its first minister and Homi ...

and

Department of Space The Department of Space (DoS) is an Indian government department responsible for administration of the Indian space programme. It manages several agencies and institutes related to space exploration and space technologies. The Indian space pr ...

.For better synergy, maximum efficiency
. The Hindu (28 May 2014). Retrieved on 1 August 2014. He was elected to

18th Lok Sabha The 18th Lok Sabha was formed after general elections were held in India over seven phases from 19 April to 1 June 2024, to elect all members from 543 constituencies of the Lok Sabha. The votes were counted, and the results were declared on 4 ...

from

Udhampur Udhampur (ˌʊd̪ʱəmpur) is a city and a municipal council in Udhampur district in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters of Udhampur District. Named after Raja Udham Singh, it serves as the district capit ...

with the majority of 124,373 votes. He is a

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

(BJP) national executive member and was the chief spokesperson for the union territory of

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory since 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered by India as a state from 1952 to 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (prin ...

. He won the Udhampur seat in the Indian general election,

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

with highest ever margin of votes for the

16th Lok Sabha Members of the 16th Lok Sabha were elected during the 2014 Indian general election. The elections were conducted in 9 phases from 7 April 2014 to 12 May 2014 by the Election Commission of India. The results of the election were declared on 16 May ...

and

17th Lok Sabha The 17th Lok Sabha was formed by the members elected in the 2019 Indian general election. Elections, all across India, were conducted in seven phases from 11 April 2019 to 19 May 2019 by the Election Commission of India. Counting started offici ...

Early life

Singh was born in

Jammu Jammu () is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute ...

, in the erstwhile

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, for a total of 36 subnational entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into 800 districts and smaller administrative divisions by the respe ...

, into a

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

Dogra Rajput The Dogras, or Dogra people, are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group living primarily in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. They speak their native Dogri language. They live predominantly in the Duggar region of the Jammu Div ...

family as the elder child to parents Rajinder Singh and Shanti Devi. His family belongs to the Marmat area in the Doda district. Singh is a doctor, and he did his schooling at

Scindia School The Scindia School is a residential boys’ school established in 1897 and situated in the Gwalior Fort in Gwalior, India. Initially called the Sardar’s School, it primarily served the sons of Indian royals and nobles. In 1933, the school bega ...

Gwalior Gwalior (Hindi: , ) is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; It is known as the Music City of India having oldest Gwalior gharana, musical gharana in existence. It is a major sports, cultural, industrial, and political c ...

, passing out in 1972. He completed his medical education at Stanley Medical College,

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

, and

All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi (AIIMS New Delhi), is a public medical research university and hospital in New Delhi, India. The institute is governed by the AIIMS Act, 1956 and operates autonomously under the Ministry of He ...

. Singh married Manju Singh. They have two sons.

Professional career

Besides being a medical doctor, Singh has also worked as a newspaper columnist. Initially he wrote for '' Kashmir Times''. Subsequently, he switched to ''

Daily Excelsior The ''Daily Excelsior'' is an English-language newspaper published in Jammu, a city in the Indian union territory Among the states and union territories of India, a Union Territory (UT) is a region that is directly governed by the Govern ...

'', which is the largest circulated newspaper of

. His weekly column ''Tales of Travesty'' used to feature in the editorial section of the newspaper until his election to the Lok Sabha in 2014. He was a professor of diabetes and endocrinology, Life Patron, Research Society for Study of Diabetes in India (RSSDI); Founder Executive Member, Diabetes in Pregnancy Study India, a consultant, clinical practitioner, author of eight books, and a newspaper columnist. He is the ex-chairman for the National Scientific Committee Diabetes and the Research Society for the Study of Diabetes in India.

Political career

Formative years

In 2008, Singh was appointed spokesperson of the Shri Amarnathji Sangharsh Samiti, an umbrella organisation of right wing parties during the Amarnath land transfer controversy. During his stint with the organisation, he took premature retirement as a professor of

endocrinology Endocrinology (from ''endocrine system, endocrine'' + ''wikt:-logy#Suffix, -ology'') is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions known as hormones. It is also concerned with the ...

in the Government Medical College, Jammu to join the

in 2012. However, the party refused to make him a candidate for the

2009 Indian general election General elections were held in India in five phases between 16 April 2009 and 13 May 2009 to elect the members of the fifteenth Lok Sabha. With a registered electorate of 716 million and a turnout of 417 million voters, it was the l ...

Parliamentary career

In March 2014, the party announced that Singh would contest the upcoming

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

from Udhampur constituency in his native Jammu. His primary competitor was

Ghulam Nabi Azad Ghulam Nabi Azad (born 7 March 1949) is an Indian politician who served as Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha between 2014 and 2021. He also served as the Chief Minister of erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir from 2005 to 2008. On 26 Septemb ...

of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

party who was a former chief minister of the state. Singh was elected to the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

after defeating Azad by a margin of 60,976 votes. Singh was polled votes while Azad was polled votes. On 27 May 2014, Singh was appointed

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

in the Prime Minister's Office, Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Minister of State for

and

. He also became the Union Minister of State (Independent charge) in the Ministry of Science and Technology and

Ministry of Earth Sciences The Ministry of Earth Sciences is an executive ministry of the Government of India, established on 29 January, 2006. It was formed through the reorganisation of the Department of Ocean Development and the assumption of administrative control ov ...

. In March 2019, the party renominated Singh as its candidate from the Udhampur constituency for the upcoming

. His main rival was Vikramaditya Singh of the Congress party and supported by

Jammu and Kashmir National Conference The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) is a regional political party in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir union territory and Ladakh. Founded as the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference by ...

party - Vikramaditya Singh was also the grandson of

Hari Singh Hari Singh Bahadur (September 1895 – 26 April 1961) was the last ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir of the Dogra dynasty. Hari Singh was the son of Amar Singh and Bhotiali Chib. In 1923, following his uncle's deat ...

, the last monarch of the former princely state. Jitendra Singh fought the election on his "development report card". Notable campaigners for him included Prime Minister

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

, party president

Amit Shah Amitbhai Anilchandra Shah (born 22 October 1964) is an Indian politician who is currently serving as the 32nd Ministry of Home Affairs (India), Minister of Home Affairs since May 2019 and the 1st Ministry of Co-operation, Minister of Co-operat ...

Home Minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergenc ...

Rajnath Singh Rajnath Singh (; born 10 July 1951) is an Indian politician and lecturer who is serving the Defence Minister of India since 20 May 2019. He was also the Deputy Leader of the House, Lok Sabha since 2014. He also served the Home Minister in th ...

, Ram Madhav and cricketer

Gautam Gambhir Gautam Gambhir (born 14 October 1981) is the Head coach of the Indian cricket team. He is also a former international cricketer, former politician, and philanthropist. He played for India in all formats of the game between 2003 and 2016. He w ...

. Jitendra Singh was re-elected to the Lok Sabha after defeating Vikramaditya Singh by approximately 350,000 votes. Jitendra Singh was polled 7,15,406 votes compared to his rival's 3,66,123 votes. On 31 May 2019, it was announced that Singh had retained his ministries in the

Second Modi ministry The Second Modi ministry, also called Modi 2.0 was the Union Council of Ministers of India, Council of Ministers headed by Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi that was formed after the 2019 Indian general election, 2019 general election whi ...

Minister of Science and Technology

As a minister of science and technology, Singh launched India's first indigenously made

research vessel A research vessel (RV or R/V) is a ship or boat designed, modified, or equipped to carry out research at sea. Research vessels carry out a number of roles. Some of these roles can be combined into a single vessel but others require a dedicated ...

named "Sindhu Sadhana" on 14 July 2014 from

Mormugao Mormugao is a coastal town situated in the eponymous subdistrict of Southern Goa state, India. It has a deep natural harbour and remains Goa's chief port. Towards the end of the Indo-Portuguese era in 1917, thirty-one settlements were c ...

harbour in

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

. In a written response to the Lok Sabha on 31 July, he announced that India had signed cooperative arrangements with 33 countries for "peaceful use of outer space". He further added that areas of co-operation included

remote sensing Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an physical object, object or phenomenon without making physical contact with the object, in contrast to in situ or on-site observation. The term is applied especially to acquiring inform ...

of earth, launch services, satellite communication,

telemetry Telemetry is the in situ collection of measurements or other data at remote points and their automatic transmission to receiving equipment (telecommunication) for monitoring. The word is derived from the Greek roots ''tele'', 'far off', an ...

space exploration Space exploration is the process of utilizing astronomy and space technology to investigate outer space. While the exploration of space is currently carried out mainly by astronomers with telescopes, its physical exploration is conducted bo ...

and

space law Space law is the body of law governing space-related activities, encompassing both international and domestic agreements, rules, and principles. Parameters of space law include space exploration, liability for damage, weapons use, rescue efforts ...

. He further launched India's first home-made broad spectrum

confocal microscope Confocal microscopy, most frequently confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) or laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM), is an optical imaging technique for increasing optical resolution and contrast of a micrograph by means of using a sp ...

on 7 October at

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

. He announced that the government was considering increasing the retirement age of scientists to 62 years. The ministry increased the stipend of researchers by 50% at the end of the month. On 8 November 2014, Singh was replaced by Harsh Vardhan, another doctor as the minister of science and technology and earth sciences.

Minister of state in space and atomic energy

During Singh's ministership, the fourth

Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), with an operational name of NavIC (acronym for Navigation with Indian Constellation; also, 'sailor' or 'navigator' in Indian languages), is an autonomous regional satellite navigation syste ...

was launched by

ISRO The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO ) is India's national space agency, headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka. It serves as the principal research and development arm of the Department of Space (DoS), overseen by the Prime Minister o ...

in April 2015 which would provide "navigation and communication facility to all the surrounding countries". On 29 April 2018, he along with ISRO chairman K. Sivan confirmed that India would send a crewed mission to the moon by 2022 as proposed by Prime Minister Modi.

Minister of state for Personnel, Public Grievances and pension

During Singh's tenure as the minister of personnel, public grievances and pension, the

Union Public Service Commission The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is a constitutional body tasked with recruiting officers for All India Services and the Central Civil Services (Group A and B) through various standardized examinations. In 2023, 1.3 million applica ...

refused to count the marks of English comprehension in the Civil Services Aptitude Test. This violated the status quo of the question paper as suggested by the Arvind Varma committee. Interviews were discontinued for lower tier government jobs as well the need of attestation by a gazetted officer was also discontinued. On 20 March 2019, Pinaki Chandra Ghose, a former

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

judge was appointed as India's first

Lokpal A Lokpal ( ''lokapāla'', "defender of people" or "People's Friend") is an anti-corruption authority or body of ombudsman who represents the public interest in the Republic of India. The current Chairperson of Lokpal is Ajay Manikrao Khanwilkar. ...

Minister of state for Development of North Eastern region

On 8 November 2014, in a cabinet reshuffle, Singh was appointed Minister of State (Independent charge) in the

Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region The Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region is a Government of India ministry, established in September 2001, which functions as the nodal Department of the Central Government to deal with matters related to the socio-economic developm ...

and replaced V.K. Singh. In the ministry, he introduced the use of satellite imaging for surveying and building roads and for "preparation of utilisation certificates with fool-proof accuracy". He advised

Sarbananda Sonowal Sarbananda Sonowal (; born 31 October 1962) is an Indian politician who has served as Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways since 2021. He also has been the Government of India, Member of the Rajy ...

, the

Chief Minister of Assam The chief minister of Assam, an Indian state, is the head of the Government of Assam. As per the Constitution of India, the governor is the state's ''de jure'' head, but '' de facto'' executive authority rests with the chief minister. Following e ...

to utilise the Assam Remote Sensing Application Centre to construct smart cities and in urban development. On 23 November 2015, Singh announced that the central government has decided to make

Mizoram Mizoram is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India, with Aizawl as its Capital city, capital and largest city. It shares 722-kilometres (449 miles) of international borders with Bangladesh to the west, and Myanmar t ...

a "bamboo state" and the ministry proposed steps for the commercial utilisation of the state's bamboo potential. In January 2016, he said that the

Northeast India Northeast India, officially the North Eastern Region (NER), is the easternmost region of India representing both a geographic and political Administrative divisions of India, administrative division of the country. It comprises eight States and ...

was "emerging destination for new Startups". In the Startup India scheme launched by Modi, the ministry added an additional incentive, "venture" funds. This fund would provide the aspiring entrepreneurs "relief from financial liabilities" and thus according to Singh, youth from other parts of India would "participate in the development of the North-Eastern States". In September 2018,

Pakyong Airport Pakyong Airport is a domestic airport serving Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim, India. It has been operationalized under the UDAN Scheme of the Government of India. Spread over , the airport is located at Pakyong, about 31 km (22 m ...

Sikkim Sikkim ( ; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Koshi Province of Nepal in the west, and West Bengal in the ...

's first greenfield airport was inaugurated by Modi. Previously, Singh had set up a deadline of 2017. In the same month, he announced that an airport would also be built in

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeast India. It was formed from the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and India declared it as a state on 20 February 1987. Itanagar is its capital and la ...

2014 Jammu and Kashmir election

On 17 November 2014, the party announced that Singh was appointed the head of the 18-member Election Campaign Committee for the upcoming legislative assembly election in his native state. He formulated the strategy for the party. However, no party managed to get a majority in the election. The media speculated that Singh might become the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir as he had the support of

and

and was popular amongst the Hindus of

. The party negotiated with

party in order to form a coalition government. However, talks fell flat when the National Conference rejected the demand of a Hindu chief minister for which Singh was a front runner.

Political views

Singh said that the

Article 370 of the Constitution of India Article 370 of the Indian constitution gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, a region located in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent and part of the larger region of Kashmir which has been the subject of a dispute between India, ...

, which gave a special status to the state of

was temporary in nature and quoted India's first prime minister

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

for the same. He alleged that Congress and National Conference parties had fooled the people of the state "in the name of Article 370". He further criticised former chief minister

Sheikh Abdullah Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah (5 December 1905 – 8 September 1982) was an Indian politician who played a central role in the politics of Jammu and Kashmir. Abdullah was the founding leader and President of the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Confer ...

for misusing the article to lengthen the term of the assembly.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rana, Jitendra Living people Lok Sabha members from Jammu and Kashmir Dogra people India MPs 2014–2019 Indian medical researchers Indian endocrinologists People from Doda district Union ministers of state of India Union ministers of state of India with independent charge Narendra Modi ministry Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Jammu and Kashmir Medical doctors from Jammu and Kashmir India MPs 2019–2024 1956 births India MPs 2024–2029 20th-century Indian medical doctors 21st-century Indian medical doctors