Pawan Kumar Bansal (born 16 July 1948) is an

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 ...

politician, who was appointed as the interim treasurer in November 2020 and a former minister in the

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (26 September 1932 – 26 December 2024) was an Indian economist, bureaucrat, academician, and statesman, who served as the prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He was the fourth longest-serving prime minister after Jaw ...

government. He represented

Chandigarh Chandigarh is a city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the ...

constituency in the 15th Lok Sabha (2009-2014) of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. He served as Minister of Railways from 28 October 2012 to 10 May 2013.

Early life

Bansal was born on 16 July 1948 in Sunam. His family hailed from Tapa, Punjab. He went to school at the Yadavindra Public School, Patiala, and did BSc from the Post Graduate Government College, Sector 11, Chandigarh. He also holds an LLB degree from the Department of Law,

Panjab University, Chandigarh Panjab University (PU) is an Indian collegiate public state university located in Chandigarh. Funded through both State and Union governments, it is considered a state university. It traces its origins to the University of the Punjab in Laho ...

Career

Bansal has represented

as a member of

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in the 10th, 13th, 14th and 15th Lok Sabha. He has worked as the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and the Minister of Water Resources in the Second Manmohan Singh ministry. He also held the charge of the

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 ...

for

Finance Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

and

Parliamentary Affairs ''Parliamentary Affairs'' is a British peer-reviewed quarterly academic journal. Founded in 1947, it focuses on the government and politics of the United Kingdom, and also covers parliamentary systems across the world. It is published by the Ox ...

in the First Manmohan Singh Cabinet.

Railway Minister

He took over as the Railway Minister, becoming the first from his

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

since 1996. Soon after becoming Railways minister, he approved an increase in fares, which had been unchanged for the last 15 years, to allow the Indian Railways to be profitable. He contested the 2014

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 ...

Elections from

. He contested his former constituency again in the next election but was once again defeated.

Railway Budget 2013

The 2013 Railway Budget focused on improving the condition of Indian Railways. Pawan Bansal came up with first ever rail link to connect

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 ...

. Internet ticketing from 0030 hours to 2330 hours as well as E-ticketing through mobile phones was made available. Four companies of women RPF personnel set up and another 8 to be set up to strengthen the security of rail passengers, especially women passengers.

Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...

has identified 104 stations for upgradation in cities with more than one million population and of religious significance. This means, these stations the Railways will give attention to all aspects related to cleanliness, according to the Budget highlights the government released. 179 escalators and 400 lifts at A-1 and other major stations to be installed facilitating elderly and differently-able.

Personal life

He is married to Madhu Bansal. They have two sons.

Incident of corruption charges

On 3 May 2013, the CBI arrested his nephew, Vijay Singla, after they caught an aide counting two bags of cash. After the scam came to light in May, the CBI interrogated Pawan Kumar Bansal, for ten hours, but failed to find substantial evidence to nail him. In his statement, Bansal denied having any knowledge of his nephew's activities. CBI does not have any tapped conversation which shows that former Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal was involved in or had any knowledge of the Rs 10 crore cash for post bribery scandal, which prompted the agency not to make him an accused in the case, sources said here today. The CBI said that Mr Bansal will serve as prosecution witness. The judge has responded. "If the CBI has chosen to make Mr Bansal a witness, then at this juncture, there being no evidence against him, the court cannot pass any order or question him, except during the trial."

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bansal, Pawan Kumar 1948 births Living people Indian National Congress politicians from Chandigarh People from Sangrur district People from Sangrur India MPs 2004–2009 Union ministers of state of India Members of the Cabinet of India India MPs 1991–1996 India MPs 1999–2004 India MPs 2009–2014 Lok Sabha members from Chandigarh United Progressive Alliance candidates in the 2014 Indian general election