Girija Vyas

Girija Vyas
Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation
In office 17 June 2013 – 26 May 2014
Prime Minister	Manmohan Singh
Preceded by	Ajay Maken
Succeeded by	Venkaiah Naidu
Personal details
Born	(1946-07-08) 8 July 1946 Nathdwara, Rajputana Agency, British India
Political party	Indian National Congress

Girija Vyas (born 8 July 1946) is an Indian politician, poet and author. She was a Member of the 15th Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India, from the Chittorgarh constituency and former president of National Commission for Women of India.

Personal life

Girija Vyas was born on 8 July 1946 to Krishna Sharma and Jamuna Devi Vyas.

After obtaining a Doctorate in Philosophy, she taught at Mohanlal Sukhadia University of Udaipur and the University of Delaware.

She has written eight books, three of which contain her poetry. Ehsaas Ke Par has her Urdu poems, Seep, Samundar Aur Moti has both her Hindi and Urdu poems while Nostalgia is enriched with English verses.

Political career

In 1985, as a candidate of the Indian National Congress party, she was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly from Udaipur, Rajasthan and served as a Minister in the Government of Rajasthan till 1990.

In 1991, she was elected to the Indian Parliament, representing Udaipur, Rajasthan in the Lok Sabha and was appointed a Deputy Minister (Information and Broadcasting) in the Federal Government of India in the Narsimha Rao ministry.

• 1993 onwards: President, All India Mahila Congress;
• 1993-96: Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas; Member, Standing Committee on House and External Affairs
• 1996: Re-elected to 11th Lok Sabha (2nd term)
• 1996 onwards: Member, Committee on Raj Bhasha; Member, Committee on Empowerment of Women; Member, Standing Committee on Petroleum; Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Home Affairs
• 1999: Re-elected to 13th Lok Sabha (3rd term)
• 1999-2000: Member, Committee on Petroleum and Chemicals

From 2001 to 2004, she was also the President, Rajasthan Provincial Congress Committee. Currently, she is chairperson, Media Department, All India Congress Committee and member, Indo-EU Civil Society.

In February 2005, the Congress Party dominated U.P.A. Government of Manmohan Singh, nominated her to the position of the Chairperson of the Fifth National Commission for Women, a Constitutional & Statutory body, a position she was holding till 01/08/2011.

She was also elected as M.L.A. in Rajasthan in 2008.

She was the Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation in 2013.