Kumari Vimla Verma (1 July 1929 – 17 May 2019) was an Indian politician and social worker. She was a Member of Parliament, having been elected from the

Seoni Seoni, formerly spelled Seeonee, is a city and a municipality in Seoni district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. This tribal household dominated district was formed in the year 1956. Rudyard Kipling used the forests of the Satpura Ran ...

constituency in the state of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

as 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 ...

candidate.

Life and career

Vimla Verma was born in

Nagpur Nagpur (; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Nāgapura'') is the second capital and third-largest city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is called the heart of India because of its central geographical location. It is the largest and most populated city i ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

on 1 July 1929. She held an

M.A Ma, MA, or mA may refer to: Academia * Master of Arts, a degree award * Marin Academy, a high school in San Rafael, California * Menlo-Atherton High School, a public high school in Atherton, California * Minnehaha Academy, a private high schoo ...

and was educated at

Allahabad University The University of Allahabad is a Central University located in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. It was established on 23 September 1887 by an act of Parliament and is recognised as an Institute of National Importance (INI). It is the 4th oldest mode ...

, Allahabad. Verma was a founder-member of the Education Committee of

, the Arts College of Seoni, and the Madhya Pradesh State Social Welfare Board. From 1963 onwards, Verma served as a Member of the

All India Congress Committee The All India Congress Committee (AICC) is the presidium or the central decision-making assembly of the Indian National Congress. It is composed of members elected from States and union territories of India, state-level Pradesh Congress Commit ...

(A.I.C.C.). She was elected to the 10th

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 ...

in 1991. In 1998, she was re-elected to 12th Lok Sabha. Verma worked as an honorary lecturer for two years. She was also an agriculturist, teacher and educationist. Verma enjoyed literature and politics. Vimla was the President of the Hindi Sahitya Samiti,

for several years. Her favorite pastimes included listening to music and studying art. Her passion was to work for the welfare of the society and development of women and children. Vimla Verma died on 17 May 2019, at the age of 89.

Notable achievements in Indian politics

* Verma was imprisoned for demonstrating against ill treatment meted out to Smt.

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

during Janata regime, 1977–79 * Appointed Observer for Lok Sabha elections in Rajasthan and assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu by A.I.C.C. * Appointed Observer for assessing political situation in five constituencies of Lok Sabha by Late Shri

Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi (20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was an Indian statesman and pilot who served as the prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the Assassination of Indira Gandhi, assassination of his mother, then–prime ...

* Verma was conferred the Vidhan Kirti award by the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly for being the most distinguished legislator and for significant contribution to the legislative business of the House. * Verma was Chairman, Project implementing Committee, Central Social Welfare Board; General-Secretary, Bharat Yuvak Samaj, Madhya Pradesh; Vice-President, Bharatiya Gramin Mahila Sangh; and Member, Madhya Pradesh Sewa Dal Board;

Positions held

* 1963-67 - District Convenor, Mahila Wing, Congress, Madhya Pradesh; President, District Congress Committee (D.C.C.), Madhya Pradesh * 1963 onwards - Member, All India Congress Committee (A.I.C.C.) * 1967-90 - Member, Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly * 1967-68 - Member, Public Accounts Committee * 1967-69 - General-Secretary, Pradesh Congress Committee (P.C.C.), Madhya Pradesh * 1969-72 - Minister of State, Irrigation and Power, Madhya Pradesh * 1972-75 - Minister of State for Health, Madhya Pradesh * 1977-80 - General-Secretary, P.C.C., Madhya Pradesh (2nd term) * 1979-80 - Member, Committee on Public Undertakings * 1980-85 - Cabinet Minister, Public Work Department, Irrigation, Rural Development and Transport, Madhya Pradesh * 1982-90 - Member, Business Advisory Committee * 1987-88 - Member, General Purposes Committee * 1987-89 - Member, Women and Children Welfare Committee * 1988-89 - Cabinet Minister, Labour and Human Resource Development, Madhya Pradesh * 1989-90 - Cabinet Minister, Food and Civil Supplies and Co-operation, Irrigation, Narmada Development and Public Health Engineering * 1991 - Elected to 10th Lok Sabha * 1991-95 - Chairperson, Committee on Communications; Member, Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes * 1995-96 - Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Human Resource Development (Department of Women and Child Development) * 1998 - Re-elected to 12th Lok Sabha (2nd term) * 1998-99 - Chairperson, Committee on Absence of Members from the sittings of the House; Member, Committee on Agriculture; Member, General Purposes Committee Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Environment and Forests

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Verma, Vimla 1929 births 2019 deaths India MPs 1998–1999 India MPs 1991–1996 Women in Madhya Pradesh politics Articles created or expanded during Women's History Month (India) - 2014 University of Allahabad alumni Indian National Congress politicians from Madhya Pradesh 20th-century Indian women politicians Politicians from Nagpur Lok Sabha members from Madhya Pradesh