| Profile:
President of India
Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil was born on December
19, 1934 in Nadgaon village of Jalgaon District, Maharashtra.
Smt. Patil assumed office as the 12th President of
India on July 25, 2007. She is the first woman to have
been elected to this august office.
Immediately prior to election as the President of India,
Smt. Patil was the Governor of Rajasthan from November
8, 2004 till June 21, 2007.
Education:
Smt. Patil received her early education from RR Vidyalaya,
Jalgaon and later obtained her Master's degree in Political
Science and Economics from the Mooljee Jetha College,
Jalgaon. Later, she obtained the degree of Bachelor
of Laws (LL.B.) from Government Law College, Bombay
(Mumbai). While in college, she took active part in
sports, excelled in table tennis and won several shields
at various Inter-collegiate tournaments. Even as an
MLA, she pursued her studies as a law student.
Professional Career:
Smt. Patil started her professional career as a practicing
lawyer at the Jalgaon District Court and simultaneously
devoted herself to various social activities, especially,
for the upliftment of poor women.
Political Career:
At the young age of 27 years, she successfully contested
her first election to the Maharashtra State Legislature
from the Jalgaon Assembly constituency. Subsequently
she was continuously elected four times as MLA from
the Edlabad (Muktai Nagar) constituency till 1985. Thereafter,
she served as a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha
from 1985 to 1990 and later elected as a Member of Parliament
to the 10th Lok Sabha in the 1991 General Elections
from the Amravati constituency. She enjoys the unique
distinction of not having lost a single election that
she contested till date.
Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil in her long stint in
Maharashtra has held various positions both in the Government
and the Legislative Assembly of Maharashtra. She was:
Deputy Minister, Public Health, Prohibition, Tourism,
Housing and Parliamentary Affairs, Government of Maharashtra
from 1967 to 1972,
Cabinet Minister, Social Welfare, Government of Maharashtra
from 1972 to 1974,
Cabinet Minister, Public Health and Social Welfare,
Government of Maharashtra from 1974 to 1975,
Cabinet Minister, Prohibition, Rehabilitation and Cultural
Affairs, Government of Maharashtra from 1975 to 1976,
Cabinet Minister, Education, Government of Maharashtra
from 1977 to 1978,
Cabinet Minister, Urban Development and Housing, Government
of Maharashtra from 1982 to 1983, and
Cabinet Minister, Civil Supplies and Social Welfare,
Government of Maharashtra from 1983 to 1985.
While in the Opposition, she also served as the Leader
of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly of Maharashtra
from July 1979 to February 1980.
While in the Rajya Sabha, Smt. Patil was the Deputy
Chairperson, Rajya Sabha from 1986 to 1988 and also
served as the Chairperson, Rajya Sabha from 25.7.1987
to 2.9.1987 when Dr. R. Venkataraman got elected as
President of India. She was also the Chairperson, Committee
of Privileges, Rajya Sabha and Member, Business Advisory
Committee, Rajya Sabha from 1986 to 1988. While in the
Lok Sabha, Smt. Patil was the Chairperson, House Committee.
Public Life:
In her long public life, she has been associated with
several institutions in wide ranging capacities. She
served as Chairperson, Maharashtra State Water Pollution
Control Board from 1982 to 1985. She was also the President,
Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) from 1988
to 1990. Besides holding the position of Director and
Vice-Chairperson, National Federation of Urban Cooperative
Banks and Credit Societies, she also served as Member,
Governing Council, National Cooperative Union of India
and Chairperson, 20-Point Programme Implementation Committee,
Government of Maharashtra.
Smt. Patil has represented India in various international
forum. She attended the International Council on Social
Welfare conferences at Nairobi and at Puerto Rico. She
was a Member of the AICC(I) delegation to Bulgaria in
1985 and represented as Member, Commonwealth Presiding
Officers Conference in London in 1988. She led the Indian
delegation to the Conference on the 'Status of Women'
in Austria and was a delegate at the World Women's Conference,
Beijing, China in September 1995.
Social and Cultural Activities:
Throughout her public life, Smt. Patil has worked actively
for the welfare of women and children and the underprivileged
sections of society. For their benefit, she established
several institutions for them. To name a few, she had
set up:
hostels for working women in Mumbai and Delhi,
an Engineering College at Jalgaon for rural youth,
the Shram Sadhana Trust which takes part in multifarious
welfare activities for development of women,
an Industrial Training School for the visually handicapped
in Jalgaon,
schools for poor children of Vimukta Jatis (Nomadic
Tribes) and for children of Backward Classes in Amravati
District and
a Krishi Vigyan Kendra (Farmer's Training Centre) at
Amravati, Maharashtra.
She played a pioneering role in setting up the Mahila
Vikas Mahamandal, a Maharashtra State Government undertaking
for the development of women.
She was instrumental in organizing music, computer
and sewing classes for the poor and needy women at Amravati,
Maharashtra. Smt. Patil also organized the Women's Home
Guard in Jalgaon District and was their Commandant in
1962.
Family Life:
Smt. Patil is married to Dr. Devisingh Ramsingh Shekhawat.
Dr. Shekhawat obtained his Ph.D. in the discipline of
Chemistry from Haffkine Institute, Mumbai. An educationist
and a social worker in his own right, he became the
first Mayor of Amravati Municipal Corporation and he
has also represented Amravati constituency as its MLA.
She has two children, a daughter, Smt. Jyoti Rathore
and a son, Shri Rajendra Singh.
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