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Kamla Beniwal

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Kamla Beniwal (12 January 1927 – 15 May 2024) was an Indian independence activist and politician.[2] She was a senior member of Indian National Congress party.[3] She served as a minister in different posts and Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan in 2003.[4] Later she served as Governor of different Indian states between 2009 and 2014. She became the first woman minister in Rajasthan in 1954 at the age of 27. She was the first ever woman Governor of any northeastern state. She was a recipient of Tamra Patra Award from former prime minister Indira Gandhi in recognition of her contribution in the freedom struggle.[5]

Kamla Beniwal
Beniwal in 2009
10th Governor of Mizoram
In office
9 July 2014 – 6 August 2014[1]
Chief MinisterLal Thanhawla
Preceded byVakkom Purushothaman
Succeeded byVinod Kumar Duggal
18th Governor of Gujarat
In office
27 November 2009 – 6 July 2014
Chief MinisterNarendra Modi
Anandiben Patel
Preceded byS.C. Jamir (additional charge)
Succeeded byMargaret Alva (additional charge)
11th Governor of Tripura
In office
15 October 2009 – 26 November 2009
Chief MinisterManik Sarkar
Preceded byDinesh Nandan Sahay
Succeeded byDnyandeo Yashwantrao Patil
Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan
In office
25 January 2003 – 8 December 2003
Succeeded bySachin Pilot
Personal details
Born(1927-01-12)12 January 1927
Gorir, Rajputana Agency, British India
Died15 May 2024(2024-05-15) (aged 97)
Jaipur, Rajasthan, India
Political partyIndian National Congress
SpouseRamchandra Beniwal
Children5
Alma materMaharani College

Life and career

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Beniwal was born in a Jat[6] family on 12 January 1927 in Gorir, Rajputana Agency, British India.[7] According to Navbharat Times Beniwal joined the Indian National Congress and became involved in Quit India Movement when she was only an adolescent child aged 15.[5]

In 1954, at the age of 27, she won the Legislative Assembly election and became a minister in the Rajasthan state government. Beniwal was a minister in successive Congress governments in Rajasthan from 1954 onwards, holding various important portfolios including home, medical and health, education and agriculture. She was the revenue minister in the Ashok Gehlot government.

For a decade, from 1980 to 1990, she was a cabinet minister in the Rajasthan government. During this time she held a sheer diversity of portfolios such as Agriculture, Animal husbandry, Irrigation, Labour and Employment, Education, Art and Culture, Tourism and Integrated Rural development.

In 1993 she was no longer a minister but still was elected to the Legislative Assembly from Bairath (now Viratnagar), Jaipur. She became a cabinet minister again in 1998, and was the Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan from 2003.

In her long career she was closely associated with the functioning of the state Congress party and was a member of the All India Congress Committee. Among the party posts she held as the joint secretary of the Pradesh Congress Committee during the 1977 elections were member of the Rajasthan Congress Executive Committee, President of the Rajasthan Mahila Congress, member of the Rajasthan Pradesh Election Committee, and then the Chairman of the Election Campaign Committee.

Beniwal was a minister in the State Government of Rajasthan for an extended period of time, holding different cabinet posts. As a minister, she served the Rajasthan Government for nearly 50 years.

She was appointed Governor of Tripura in October 2009. She was the first female governor of any state of Northeast India.[8] A month later, she was appointed the Governor of Gujarat on 27 November 2009 where she served for more than four years. On 6 July 2014, she was transferred to the post of Governor of Mizoram.[9] With just two months before her tenure was due to end, she was removed from her position.[10]

Beniwal died after a brief illness at a private hospital in Jaipur, on 15 May 2024, at the age of 97.[11][12]

Various positions held

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Positions held for Indian National Congress
  • Member – All India Congress Committee, New Delhi.
  • Member – Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee.
  • Member – Rajasthan Pradesh Election Committee (PEC).
  • Member – Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Executive Committee, Jaipur.
  • Member – Jaipur Rural District Congress Executive Committee.
  • Chairman – Election Campaign Committee, Rajasthan.
  • Joint Secretary – Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee from 1977–80.
  • President – Rajasthan Pradesh Mahila Congress.
  • Member – Pradesh Congress Sub-Committee for drafting message with respect to the letdowns of the Bharitiya Janata Party Government in Rajasthan.
  • Convener – Rajasthan Pradesh Sadbhavna Yatra Publicity Sub-Committee.
Other posts
  • Member of the Executive Committee of All India Panchayat.
  • Chairperson – Rajasthan State Social Welfare Board and as such, launched the projects for Women and Child Welfare in the state.
  • Vice-President, S.O.S. Children Village, Jaipur.
  • Executive Committee Member, Banasthali Vidhyapeeth, District Tonk, Rajasthan
  • President, Rajasthan Sanskrit Sahitya Sammelan, Jaipur
Positions held in Co-operative Campaign after 1955;

Beniwal was one of the founder members of the Co-operative Movement and different important organisations in the state of Rajasthan. She held the following positions in these organisations:

  • President of Rajasthan State Co-operative Union, Jaipur.
  • General Secretary of Rajasthan State Co-operative Union, Jaipur.
  • Member, General Body, Executive Committee, and Governing Council of National Co-operative Union of India, Khelgaon, New Delhi.
  • Member, General Body and Executive Committee of All India Co-Operative Union, Jorbagh, New Delhi.
  • Chairman, Women Co-operative Advisory Committee (NCUI), New Delhi.
  • President, Co-Operative College Jaipur.
  • Member, Women Committee of International Co-operative Alliance, London – UK.
  • Member – Women Consultative Committee (NCUI) New Delhi.
  • Member – Co-operative Training College (NCUI), Jaipur.

Achievements

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Other than being a quite senior member of the Indian National Congress, Beniwal was famous as a minister of good quality, honesty, and excellent performance. She managed all the operations of her departments with comprehensive learning and diligence. She had lucid ideas about her task and was quite energetic to muster her officials to keep high standards of operation. As Agriculture Minister of the state, she was a key functionary in the setting up of Rajasthan Agriculture University in Bikaner.[citation needed]

As an Irrigation Minister of Rajasthan, she completed the task of making district programmes of approximately 48,000 water harvesting plants in Rajasthan.[citation needed]

She had a key role in setting up the National Institute of Ayurved, at Jaipur. With her firm endeavour, she has also set up a Sanskrit University at Jaipur.

Beniwal was one of the most committed and senior co-operators in India. She served as the representative of the Rajasthan unit in the National Co-operative Union of India in different ranks for nearly 20 years. As one of the limited and leading co-operators in India, Beniwal was linked with the primary association of the All India Co-operative Union, Jorbagh, New Delhi, which is currently named as the National Co-operative Union of India (NCUI).[citation needed] From the very start of the Co-operative Union, Beniwal was dynamically involved in the campaign to turn it into a real spokesperson establishment of the countrywide co-operative campaign. She received the Best Co-operator of India Award conferred by IFFCO in 1994–95.[citation needed]

Controversies

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Appointment of Gujarat Lokayukta

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The Lokayukta is a state-level body for monitoring the government, particularly for corruption. In August 2011, Beniwal appointed Justice R A Mehta as the Lokayukta. She did this under Section 3 of the Gujarat Lokayukta Act, 1986, which gives the governor the right to appoint Lokayukta without consulting the government,[13] when there has been a long delay in making the appointment. In so doing, Beniwal bypassed the Narendra Modi government of Gujarat, which had been sitting on the matter since 2004.

Justice Mehta had been recommended by the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court in June 2011,[14] but the government did not act on the suggestion. In August, the father of murdered RTI activist Amit Jethwa filed Public Interest Litigation in the High Court, which then served a show cause notice on the government for the delay in the appointment of the Lokayukta. In response, the Gujarat state cabinet set up a committee of five ministers to look into the matter.[15]

The unilateral action of the governor was challenged in the Gujarat High Court by the government of Gujarat. On 18 January 2012, the Lokyukta appointment was upheld by the court.[16] The next day, the government of Gujarat further appealed to the Supreme Court by filing a special leave petition.[17] On 2 January 2013, the Supreme Court too upheld the appointment,[18] while noting that the Lokayukta post lying vacant for nine years reflected a "very sorry state of affairs".[19] The bench said "the process of consultation by the Governor with the then Chief Justice stood complete, and in such a situation, the appointment of Justice Mehta cannot be held illegal". It noted that the Governor is bound to act under the advice of the Council of Ministers, but the appointment of Justice Mehta is right as it was done in consultation with the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court. It also observed that the Governor "has misjudged her role and has insisted that under the Lokayukta Act, the Council of Ministers has no role to play in the appointment of the Lokayukta".[20]

References

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  1. ^ "Mizoram Governor Kamla Beniwal Axed for Misuse of Office in Gujarat". The Times of India. 6 August 2014. Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  2. ^ "Veteran Congress Leader Kamla Beniwal Dies In Jaipur Hospital". NDTV. PTI. 15 May 2024. Archived from the original on 15 May 2024. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  3. ^ "Who is Kamla Beniwal, and why was she sacked?". DNA India. Archived from the original on 12 July 2023. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  4. ^ "राजस्थान: 1952 से अब तक सिर्फ पांच डिप्टी सीएम बने, इस लिस्ट में शामिल हुए सचिन पायलट". Jansatta (in Hindi). 15 December 2018. Archived from the original on 12 July 2023. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  5. ^ a b खुशेंद्र तिवारी (15 May 2024). "15 की उम्र में भारत छोड़ो आंदोलन का हिस्सा रही हिस्सा, गुजरात में मोदी से टकराई, जानिए कौन हैं कमला बेनीवाल". Navbharat Times (in Hindi). Archived from the original on 15 May 2024. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  6. ^ Rathore, L. S.; Saxena, K. S. (1987). "Politics and Caste in Rajasthan". The Indian Journal of Political Science. 48 (4): 449–457. ISSN 0019-5510. JSTOR 41855330.
  7. ^ "Governor of Mizoram". mizoram.nic.in. Archived from the original on 12 July 2023. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  8. ^ "Hindustan Times – Archive News". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 25 April 2011. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  9. ^ "Former Governor of Mizoram – Kamla Beniwal". Archived from the original on 12 July 2023. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  10. ^ "NDA government sacks shunted Governor Kamla Beniwal, puts envoys on notice". The Indian Express. 7 August 2014. Archived from the original on 27 February 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  11. ^ "Ex-Gujarat governor Kamla Beniwal passes away". Rediff. 15 May 2024. Archived from the original on 15 May 2024. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  12. ^ Meena, Prem (15 May 2024). "गुजरात की पूर्व राज्यपाल कमला बेनीवाल का निधन, मोदी से अनबन को लेकर चर्चा में रहीं थीं". Hindustan (in Hindi). Archived from the original on 15 May 2024. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  13. ^ "Anna man is Gujarat Lokayukta". The Times of India. 27 August 2011. Archived from the original on 9 September 2011.
  14. ^ Shah, Jumana (15 June 2011). "Is Justice RA Mehta likely to be appointed Gujarat lok ayukta?". DNA India. Archived from the original on 5 October 2012. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  15. ^ "R.A. Mehta is Gujarat Lokayukta – Yahoo! News India". In.news.yahoo.com. 26 August 2011. Archived from the original on 13 May 2012. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  16. ^ "Setback for Narendra Modi, Gujarat HC upholds Lokayukta's appointment". IBNLive.IN.com. 18 January 2012. Archived from the original on 5 January 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  17. ^ "Gujarat government challenges Lokayukta appointment in SC". IBNLive.IN.com. 19 January 2012. Archived from the original on 15 July 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  18. ^ "Supreme Court upholds Gujarat Lokayukta's appointment". NDTV. 2 January 2013. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  19. ^ "Apex court upholds Justice Mehta's appointment as Gujarat Lokayukta". TEHELKA. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  20. ^ Venkatesan, J. (3 January 2013). "Setback to Modi as Supreme Court upholds Lokayukta appointment". The Hindu. TheHindu. Archived from the original on 26 March 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
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