Gurudas kamat smriti irani biography

Smriti Irani

Indian politician and former actress

Smriti Zubin Irani (néeMalhotra; Hindi pronunciation:[smɾɪt̪ɪiːɾɑːniː] born 23 March ) is an Indian politician and former actress, fashion model and television producer. She was Minister of Women and Child Development from to , and also Minister of Minority Affairs from to (as the first non-Muslim to hold the position).

She previously served as Minister of Human Resource Development ( to ), Minister of Textiles ( to ), and Minister of Information and Broadcasting ( to ).[2][3] She was the youngest minister (at age 43) in prime minister Narendra Modi's second ministry in [4]

A prominent leader of Bharatiya Janata Party, she had been a member of parliament from to , serving in the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat from to and from to as a member of the Lok Sabha from the Amethi constituency in Uttar Pradesh.

She was also the National President of the BJP Mahila Morcha (the party's women's wing) from to In the elections she gained the Amethi constituency by defeating opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, then-president of the Indian National Congress, whose family members had represented the constituency for the previous four decades. She subsequently lost the constituency to long time Indian National Congress worker Kishori Lal Sharma in the elections.

In July , she was handed the additional charge of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting India when former Minister Venkaiah Naidu resigned from the ministry to take part in vice-presidential elections. In , responding to queries about her faith, she stated that she is a practising Hindu married to a practising Zoroastrian , and that wearing sindoor is her belief as a Hindu. Retrieved 22 January Already a Member?

Previously in the s, Irani was the most popular actress on TV playing the lead role of Tulsi Virani in Ekta Kapoor's blockbuster Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi on Star Plus for which she won five consecutive ITA Best Actress awards and 2 Indian Telly Awards.[5] Irani comes from a multi-cultural family, with her paternal family having Punjabi and Maharashtrian background, while her maternal family is Bengali.[6] She is a multi-linguist and speaks several Indian languages including Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, and Punjabi.[6][7]

Early and personal life

She was born as Smriti Malhotra, the daughter of a half-Punjabi, half-MaharashtrianHindu father, Ajay Kumar Malhotra, and a BengaliHindu mother, Shibani née Bagchi.[1][8][9] She is the eldest among three sisters.[10][11] Her mother was a member of Jana Sangh and her grandfather was associated with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.[12]

Smriti was educated at the Holy Child Auxilium School, New Delhi, which is run by Catholic nuns.[13] Later, she enrolled in School of Open Learning at University of Delhi.[14][15] In , she revealed that she had written her first year exams from that institution, but had not completed the three-year degree course.[16]

In , Smriti married a Parsi businessman, Zubin Irani.

In October the same year, the couple had their first child, a son named Zohr.[17] In September , the couple had their second child, a daughter named Zoish. Smriti is also a stepmother to Shanelle who is Zubin Irani's daughter from his previous marriage to Mona Irani, a coordinator and former beauty contestant.[18][19]

In , responding to queries about her faith, she stated that she is a practising Hindu married to a practising Zoroastrian, and that wearing sindoor is her belief as a Hindu.[20][21]

Acting career

Irani was one of the participants of the beauty pageant Miss India but couldn't reach the top 9, along with Gauri Pradhan Tejwani.[18][22][23] In , Irani appeared in a song "Boliyan" of the album "Saawan Mein Lag Gayi Aag" with Mika Singh.[24][25] In , she made her acting début with TV series Aatish and Hum Hain Kal Aaj Aur Kal, both of which aired on Star Plus.

Apart from this, she acted in Kavita on DD metro. In , Irani bagged the lead role of Tulsi Virani in Ekta Kapoor's production Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi on Star Plus for which she holds the record of winning five consecutive ITA Award for Best Actress Popular and four Indian Telly Awards. Kyunki.. was the most successful serial at that time, largely attributed to Irani's performance and chemistry with lead actors Amar Upadhyay and Ronit Roy.

Irani had a fallout with the producer Ekta Kapoor and she left the show in June and was replaced by Gautami Kapoor. She made her comeback in May in a special episode, reconciling with Kapoor. In November , Kyunki came to an end, leading to Irani's decline on TV. Irani's Tulsi avatar became a cultural phenomenon as she was seen as TV's highest paid actress at that time.[5]

In , she played the epic character Sita in Zee TV's Ramayan along with Nitish Bharadwaj[26] In , Irani co-produced the show Thodi Si Zameen Thoda Sa Aasmaan under her banner Ugraya Entertainment and co-produced by Balaji Telefilms.

She also played the lead role of Uma in it. In , she produced the TV serial Virrudh for Sony TV and also portrayed the lead character of Vasudha in it.[26] She produced Mere Apne for 9X and portrayed the protagonist alongside Vinod Khanna. She acted in a supporting role in Zee TV's Teen Bahuraaniyaan.[27]

In , Irani along with Sakshi Tanwar hosted the show Yeh Hai Jalwa, a dance based reality show featuring celebrities along with their troops on 9X.

In the same year she produced another show on Zee TV, Waaris which ended in In , she appeared in a comedy show , aired on SAB TV. She also co-produced the show in collaboration with Contiloe Entertainment. In , she worked in Bengali movie Amrita.[28][29]

Political career

Irani joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in [30] The following year, she was appointed vice-president of the Maharashtra Youth Wing in [31] In the general elections held that year for the 14th Lok Sabha, she contested unsuccessfully against Kapil Sibal from the Chandni Chowk constituency in Delhi.

That election witnessed a shock defeat for the incumbent Vajpayee government. In December , Irani, blaming then Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi for BJP's electoral losses, threatened to fast unto death until he resigned.[32] She retracted this demand after the BJP's central leadership threatened to take action against her.[33][34]

Irani was nominated as executive member of the central committee of the BJP.[35][36] During the campaign for the parliamentary elections, while campaigning for Vijay Goel in the New Delhi constituency, Irani voiced her concern for women's safety in the city and advocated capital punishment for rapists as a deterrent.[37] In early , Irani was appointed National Secretary of BJP and on 24 June, she was appointed All India President of the BJP's women's wing, BJP Mahila Morcha.[30][38] As National President of BJP Women's Wing, she successfully pursued Permanent Commission for Women in the Indian Army by facilitating legal aid to women officers who held temporary commission and were agitating for permanent commission.[39]

In August , Irani finally entered parliament.

She was sworn in as a member of parliament from Gujarat to the Rajya Sabha.[40][41][42]

Irani contested the general elections against Rahul Gandhi in Amethi constituency of Uttar Pradesh.[43] Irani lost to Gandhi by 1,07, votes, a % margin.[44][45] On 26 May , Prime Minister Narendra Modi appointed her as the Minister of Human Resource Development in his cabinet.[46][47] Her appointment was criticised by many people owing to her lack of formal higher education.[48][49][50]

Irani has been accused of misrepresenting her educational qualifications.[51] Conflicting affidavits were allegedly submitted by her while filing for different elections.[52] In June , a lower court held that the allegations against Irani were maintainable and a delay in prosecution was not a valid reason for dismissal.[53] Irani asked people to file a PIL about her educational qualification to know about the truth behind the affidavit controversy.[54]

Irani implemented various reforms in universities during her term as HRD minister.[55] Irani made a speech in Parliament in which she discussed the JNU sedition controversy and the Suicide of Rohith Vemula.[56]University of Hyderabad doctor Rajashree M contradicted some claims made by Irani regarding the circumstances of Rohith's death.[57]

She announced to start new yoga departments in six new universities in June [58]

In July , in a cabinet reshuffle Irani was shuffled to the Ministry of Textiles from MHRD.[59]

In July , she was handed the additional charge of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India) when former Minister Venkaiah Naidu resigned from the ministry to take part in vice-presidential elections.[60]

In , Irani became a member of parliament for Amethi constituency after winning the Lok Sabha seat in the general elections from Rahul Gandhi.[61][62] In the elections Irani lost to Congress Loyalist Kishore Lal Sharma in Amethi by a margin of 1,67, votes.[63][64]

Work undertaken as Union Minister

Smriti Irani was the youngest minister in the cabinet of Narendra Modi.

She was also the first woman to hold office as the Union Minister for Human Resource Development and Union Minister of Textiles.[39] She was also the youngest woman to be nominated to the Rajya Sabha.[65] Some of her key achievements in various portfolios held by her have been listed below:

As Union Minister for Human Resource Development (May –July )

In her term as the HRD minister, Irani undertook a number of decisions which helped in improving the quality, inclusivity and outcome of education in the country.

Some of the key achievements have been listed as under:

  1. The Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN)[66] was launched by the Minister post the retreat of IITs in The network is an initiative within the Higher Education sector aimed at tapping the talent pool of scientists and entrepreneurs, internationally to encourage their engagement with the institutes of Higher Education in India so as to augment the country's existing academic resources, accelerate the pace of quality reform, and elevate India's scientific and technological capacity to global excellence.[67][68]
  2. Udaan Yojana and Pragati Scheme launched in by Irani aims to address the low enrolment of girls in engineering colleges.

    The scheme has been designed to provide a comprehensive platform to deserving girl students who aspire to pursue higher education in engineering and assist them in preparing for the IIT-JEE while studying in Classes XI and XII.[69] By , of the girls under the scheme had cleared JEE.[70] In the same year the Pragati Scheme was launched in order to provide financial support and encouragement to female students to pursue technical education.[71][72]

  3. Know Your College Portal was launched in the year for helping a prospective student make a value judgement with regard to the selection of an appropriate college for pursuing higher education by providing the necessary information about the college.[73]
  4. The IMPacting Research INnovation and Technology (IMPRINT) India Scheme, brainchild of Irani was launched by the former President, Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in [74] It is the first of its kind MHRD supported Pan-IIT + IISc joint initiative to address the major science and engineering challenges that India must address and champion to enable, empower and embolden the nation for inclusive growth and self-reliance.[75] Within a year of its launch 31 ministries and government departments have proposed to co-fund research projects worth Rs 59, lakh at IITs and other premier Indian research institutes.[76]
  5. National institute Ranking Framework is an indigenous ranking framework for higher educational institutions launched by Irani in , It will now allow the students seeking admission into colleges to assess the performance and quality level of different colleges.[77]
  6. SWAYAM (Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds), launched in the year by Irani is a Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCS) platform, which aims at providing online courses, study material and course registration.

    It has been designed to achieve the three cardinal principles of Education Policy viz., access, equity and quality. It further aims to bridge the digital divide for students who have hitherto remained untouched by the digital revolution and have not been able to join the mainstream of the knowledge economy.[78]

  7. Veer Gatha series was launched by the HRD ministry under the leadership of Irani in the year as an initiative to take the stories of India's bravest of the brave soldiers to young school children and inspire them.[79]

Union Minister for Textiles (July –July )

In July , Irani was given charge of the Textiles Ministry, taking over from Santosh Kumar Gangwar.[80] She held that portfolio for a full five years, until July , having been re-appointed to the position after the parliamentary elections of [81] Her contribution to the sector has been appreciated by various industry bodies like the textile council TEXPROCIL, the Clothing Manufacturers Association of India and the Indian Texpreneurs Federation (ITF).[82] Her significant initiatives as Minister of Textiles include:

  1. Apparel Sector Special Package launched in the year , is a Rs.

    6, crore worth of package launched by Irani in , aimed at strengthening the entire textile industry by providing financial support to small scale players in the industry.[83]

  2. Support for Technical Textile, in a bid to fulfil the long-standing demand of the industry, in January , Irani declare technical textile items as a separate category and declared that the government had notified HSN codes as technical textiles.

    The said move is expected to benefit million farmers in the country and will help the industry to grow over Rs 2&#;trillion (short scale) in the tech textile sector and help the potential investors to enter into technical textiles.[84]

  3. Special focus on the North Eastern Regions, during the first term of her tenure as the Minister of Textiles, 21 readymade garment manufacturing units in the north eastern region had been made functional.

    Special initiatives were taken to further push sericulture in the region, for which Rs. crore had been earmarked.[85]

  4. Silk Samagra Workshop was launched by Irani in , which is an Integrated Scheme for Development of Silk Industry for 3 years from to The main objective of the scheme is to maintain Breeders stock, Breed improvement through R&D Projects, Development of mechanised practices, Technology translation through Sericulture Information Linkages and Knowledge System (SILKS) Portal, Mobile Application for Stakeholders and for seed quality monitoring.[86]
  5. Samarth Scheme, is an aspirational initiative launched by Irani in her second term as the Union Minister for Textiles.

    The ministry has envisaged an expenditure of over Rs. 1, crore to upskill over 4 lakh workers in 16 states.[87]

Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting (July –May )

  1. The 48th edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) was held under her watch in November For the first time, under the Accessible India Campaign of the Government of India, cinematic works were presented in audio-described format for the visually impaired.[88] Film star Shah Rukh Khan expressed his admiration in these words: "Great endeavour by I&B Minister Smriti Irani to make IFFI the most inclusive, relevant forum for Indian cinema.

    My unwavering support to you".[89] The event was a star studded one, with Sridevi, AR Rahman, Shahid Kapoor and Vishal Bhardwaj and many other stars registering their presence at the event.[90]

  2. In FY , during Mrs. Irani's term as I&B Minister, the revenue of State-run broadcaster Doordarshan rose to Rs crore, surpassing its target of Rs crore.[91]

Union Minister for Women and Child Developments (May –June )

In the second term of the Modi Government, Irani was appointed given the key portfolio Union Minister for Women and Child Development.[92] Subsequently, in the cabinet re-shuffle of July , Irani was again given the charge of the Ministry of Women and Child Development.[93]

One of her first legislative initiatives as the Minister for WCD was the Amendment to the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, , which aims to make punishment more stringent and even include death penalty for offenders involved in sexual crimes against minors.[94] She undertook the initiative to define "child pornography" and reiterated a "zero tolerance" stance against the crime.[95][96]

Bharatiya Poshan Krishi Kosh, As part of the Poshan Abhiyaan, Irani along with Bill Gates, through his foundation, announced the launch of India's first Poshan Atlas, Bhartiya Poshan Krishi Kosh(BPKK) in order to create a repository of diverse crops across agro-climatic zones of the country.[97]

Union Minister for Minority Affairs (July - June )

In August , Irani introduced ‘Naya Savera’ scheme (‘Free Coaching and Allied’ scheme) to assist students belonging to the six minority communities namely Sikh, Jain, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist and Parsi by way of special coaching for qualifying examinations for admission in technical/professional courses and competitive examination for recruitment.[98][99]

In January , Smriti Irani became the only non-muslim on her historical visit to the holy site of Medina led by the Saudi-Arabian delegates, where she signed the Hajj agreement , and brought home increased quota for Hajj trip for Muslims in India.

[][]

MP from Amethi

Irani, in general elections, in Amethi constituency of Uttar Pradesh, won against Rahul Gandhi, President of the Indian National Congress, by a margin of 55, votes who previously seat held since [][][][] The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its leadership put in an all around effort over the past five years to ensure this win after her loss to Gandhi by 1,07, votes, a % margin in general elections.[][] Irani made multiple visits to Amethi after her loss to launch central development schemes in the constituency, to underscore her message that she would provide better representation than the incumbent member.

In the general elections however, Irani lost the Amethi seat to the Indian National Congress' candidate Kishori Lal Sharma by a margin of , votes.[]

Events

Undergraduate degree

Irani was accused of providing contradictory affidavits about her educational qualifications during different elections.

In her affidavit for the Lok Sabha elections, she reportedly stated her educational qualification as B.A. from Delhi University. However, while filing affidavits in her nomination papers for Rajya Sabha from Gujarat in and Lok Sabha from Uttar Pradesh in , she said her highest educational qualification was, , Part 1 from School of Open Learning at University of Delhi.[][]

She later claimed that she has done , Part 1 from Delhi University (not completing the full course till Part 3) in the affidavit she filed for Rajya Sabha elections from Gujarat in which stated "Bachelor of Commerce, Part 1.

Three year degree course not completed".[][]

A freelance writer Ahmer Khan filed a complaint in April that Smriti Irani had filed an affidavit in April for the Lok Sabha elections, stating that she had completed her Bachelor of Arts in from School of Correspondence (Delhi University) but in another affidavit of 16 April , filed by her for the Lok Sabha polls, it was said that she was a Bachelor of Commerce Part-I from the School of Open Learning (Delhi University).

The plea said that the facts and circumstances reveal commission of offences by Smriti under section A (which deals with penalty of filing false affidavit and entails a jail term[]) of the Representation of People Act, []

The court had on 20 November allowed the complainant's plea seeking direction to the officials of EC and DU to bring the records of Ms.

Irani's qualifications after he said he was unable to place them before the court. During the hearings of the complaint, the court was told by a poll panel official that the documents filed by Ms. Irani regarding her educational qualification while filing nominations were not traceable. Also, in pursuance of the court's earlier direction, Delhi University had also submitted that the documents pertaining to Ms.

Irani's BA course in , as purportedly mentioned by her in an affidavit filed during Lok Sabha elections, were yet to be found.[]

On 18 October , a Delhi court said that Smriti Irani will not be summoned for the fake degree case because the petition filed against Irani questioning her college degrees was an attempt to harass her.[] The court said that the complainant may not have filed it if she were not a central minister.

Metropolitan Magistrate Harvinder Singh said that original evidence had already been lost due to the passage of years, secondary evidence wasn't enough for court. The Magistrate also said that the complainant made a "delay of 11 years" in filing the complaint against Irani.[] This verdict of the lower court was challenged in the Delhi High Court and the court asked all the records of the case to be handed over to it in order to examine case records before deciding to summon Irani or anyone else.[][]

Trivialising Child Abuse

In December , while at the same time holding a portfolio of Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani posted an image on Instagram which read, "When I was a kid, they didn't take me to a psychologist My mom was able to open my chakra, stabilize my karma and clean my aura with one single slap." She was widely criticised for trivialising the widely prevalent issue of child abuse in Indian households with her post and degrading the role of mental health experts.[][]

Silly Souls Cafe

In July , a website by the name of Herald Goa published a story on an RTI response received by lawyer Aires Rodrigues alleging that the liquor licence of Silly Souls Cafe and Bar had been renewed illegally and that Smriti Irani's family is connected with the bar.

In an earlier interview on a food critic's YouTube channel, Smriti Irani's daughter agreed that the bar is owned by her. In an affidavit in Delhi High Court, Smriti Irani denied any connection of her family with the bar. Later an RTI reply revealed that the licence was issued in the name of a company linked with Irani's family.[][] Earlier RTI filings show that the Irani family's company and the bar has the same address and identical GST number, and that the Irani family's company's operation includes liquor sales, which requires licence according to law.[]

Electoral history

  • – Lost election against Kapil Sibal of Congress from Chandni Chowk, New Delhi
  • – Lost against Rahul Gandhi from Amethi (Lok Sabha constituency)
  • – Won against Rahul Gandhi from Amethi (Lok Sabha constituency)
  • – Lost against Kishori Lal Sharma from Amethi (Lok Sabha constituency)

Works and appearances

Television

Theatre projects

ProjectsLanguageCharacter
Kuch Tum Kaho Kuch Hum KaheinHindiSargam
GujaratiMani
Koi Taru Bau Saru ThayuGujarati Devika
MuktidhaamGujarati Mother
Garv Thi Kaho Ame Gujarati ChhiyeGujarati Mridula
Jai Bolo TelanganaTeluguMother

Films

Books

Smriti Irani's debut novel is Lal Salaam, published by Westland publishers in [][] It is inspired by the April Maoist attack in Dantewada and the role of the central police forces in insurgencies.[]

Awards

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Smriti Irani

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