Sriprakash Jaiswal (born 25 September 1944), also written Shriprakash or Sri Prakash, is an Indian politician. He served as a member of Parliament for the

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 ...

and as Minister of State for

Home Affairs An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a Ministry (government department), government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law e ...

. He also held ministry of coal for three years, 2011–2014.

Early life

He completed his education in BNSD Inter College. He married Maya Rani on 28 April 1967. He has two sons and one daughter.

Career

His first political assignment was serving Kanpur city as its mayor in 1989. He won the 1999 Lok Sabha election and was reelected in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

and

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

. He served as Minister of State for

in 2004. He was elevated to Minister Of State (Independent Charge) in 2009 holding dual charges of Coal and Statistics And Programme Implementation. In 2014 Lok Sabha elections he lost his seat.

Overseas engagements

In Aug 2009, when

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 ...

n students were being attacked in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, Jaiswal had visited

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

to meet with International students from

. Jaiswal had visited temples, hospitals, and travelled in trains and public transport in

to meet victims, and interact with Indian students in

, to get a better understanding of the situation. Jaiswal had also visited the

Victorian Parliament The Parliament of Victoria is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Victoria that follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system. It consists of the King, represented by the governor of Victoria, the Legislative Assembly ...

, and had meetings with then Victorian opposition leader

Ted Baillieu Edward Norman Baillieu (born 31 July 1953) is a former Australian politician who was Premier of Victoria from 2010 to 2013. He was a Victorian Liberal Party, Liberal Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1999 to 2014, represe ...

, and Ministerial Adviser Mr. Nitin Gupta to raise concerns about Indian students being attacked in

. Earlier when Victorian opposition leader

, and Ministerial Adviser Mr. Nitin Gupta had visited Delhi, India in July 2009, Jaiswal had met with them to get updates about the ground situation. He still decided to personally visit Melbourne, Australia next month to see the ground situation with his own eyes.

Controversies

Jaiswal mostly stayed out of the political spats and media. However, he came into limelight when the

Indian coal allocation scam The coal allocation scam, dubbed in the media as Coalgate, is a major political scandal concerning the Indian government's allocation of the nation's coal deposits to public sector enterprise (PSEs) and private companies. In a draft report issu ...

erupted via a leaked Report of

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(CAG) in August 2012. He was not the Coal Minister at the time of the crime, but was criticised by the opposition. Jaiswal, however, maintained that the Coal Allocation Process was proper and that the report was disputable. He defended then Prime Minister

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 ...

. Another controversy arose while Jaiswal was attending a cultural event in Kanpur he made sexist remarks, saying 'A new victory and a new marriage have their own importance. But as times passes, the memories of a victory go old and as time passes, a wife gets old, the same charm is not there'. He later apologized. His remarks received nationwide criticism and a petition was filed against him in the Court by Women's Organizations.

References

1944 births Living people Marwari people India MPs 1999–2004 India MPs 2004–2009 India MPs 2009–2014 Union ministers of state of India Lok Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh United Progressive Alliance candidates in the 2014 Indian general election Coal block allocation scam Politicians from Kanpur Coal ministers of India Indian National Congress politicians from Uttar Pradesh Presidents of Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee {{UttarPradesh-INC-politician-stub