Pranab Mukherjee
Official Biography of Shri Pranab Mukherjee President of India
Shri Pranab Mukherjee assumed office as the 13th President of India on
July 25, 2012, crowning a political career of over five decades of
exemplary service to the nation in Government as well as Parliament.
Seventy six years old, Shri Mukherjee is a man of unparalleled experience
in governance with the rare distinction of having served at different times
as Foreign, Defence, Commerce and Finance Minister. He was elected to
the Upper House of the Parliament (Rajya Sabha) five times from 1969
and twice to the Lower House of the Parliament (Lok Sabha) from 2004.
He was a member of the Congress Working Committee, the highest policy
making body of the Party for a period of 23 years.
During the period 2004-2012, Shri Mukherjee was instrumental in
spearheading critical decisions of the Government on a range of issues
such as Administrative reforms, Right to Information, Right to
Employment, Food Security, Energy Security, Information Technology and
telecommunication, setting up of UIDAI, Metro Rail etc. through
Chairmanship of over 95 Groups of Ministers constituted for the purpose.
In seventies and eighties, he was instrumental in setting up the Regional
Rural Banks (1975) and the EXIM Bank of India as well as National Bank
for Agriculture and Rural Development (1981-82). Shri Mukherjee was
also author of a modified formula for resource sharing between the Centre
and the States in 1991 which came to be known as the Gadgil -
Mukherjee formula.
A powerful orator and scholar, Shri Mukherjee’s intellectual and political
prowess as well as remarkable knowledge of international relations,
financial affairs and parliamentary process are widely admired. He has
been acclaimed for his role as a consensus builder on difficult national
issues through his ability to forge unity amongst the diverse political
parties that form part of India’s vibrant multi-party democracy.
A man of humble origins, Shri Mukherjee was born in the small village of
Mirati in Birbhum District of West Bengal as son of freedom fighters, Shri
Kamada Kinkar Mukherjee and Rajlakshmi on December 11, 1935. Shri
Mukherjee’s father was a Congress leader who endured great hardship
including being sent to jail several times for his role in India’s struggle for
independence.
Shri Mukherjee acquired a Master’s degree in History and Political Science
as well as a degree in Law from the University of Kolkata. He then
embarked on his professional life as a college teacher and journalist.
Inspired by his father’s contribution to the national movement, Shri
Mukherjee in 1969 plunged into full time public life following his election
to the Upper House of the Parliament (Rajya Sabha).Under the careful mentoring of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Shri
Mukherjee’s rise in his political career was rapid. He was made Deputy
Minister, Industry; Shipping and Transport, Steel and Industry and
Minister of State for Finance in the period 1973-74. He assumed office as
Finance Minister of India for the first time in 1982 in the Cabinet of Prime
Minister Indira Gandhi and was Leader of the House in the Upper House of
Parliament (Rajya Sabha) from 1980 to 1985. Later , he was Deputy
Chairman of the Planning Commission from 1991 to 1996, Minister for
Commerce from 1993 to 1995, Minister of External Affairs from 1995 to
1996, Minister of Defence from 2004 to 2006 and once again the Minister
of External Affairs from 2006 to 2009. He was the Minister of Finance
from 2009 to 2012 and Leader of the Lower House of Parliament from
2004 to 2012 till he resigned to contest election to the office of the
President.
Shri Mukherjee has extensive diplomatic experience and has served on
the Board of Governors of the IMF, World Bank, Asian Development Bank
and African Development Bank. He has led the Indian delegations to the
Commonwealth Finance Ministers’ Conferences in 1982, 1983 and 1984;
the United Nations General Assembly in 1994, 1995, 2005 and 2006, the
Conference of Commonwealth Heads of Government at Auckland in 1995,
the Non-Aligned Foreign Minister’s Conference at Cartagena in 1995 and
the Conference to mark the 40th anniversary of the Afro –Asian
Conference in Bandung in 1995.
A prolific reader, Shri Mukherjee has authored several books on the
Indian Economy and on Nation Building. The many awards and honours
conferred on him include India’s second highest civilian award, Padma
Vibhusan in 2008, the Best Parliamentarian Award in 1997 and Best
Administrator in India Award in 2011. He was rated one of the best five
Finance Ministers of the world in 1984 according to a survey conducted by
“Euro Money” Journal published from New York and was declared ‘Finance
Minister of the year’ for Asia in 2010 by “Emerging Markets”, the journal
of record for the World Bank and the IMF.
Shri Mukherjee is married to Smt. Suvra Mukherjee, an accomplished
singer of Rabindra Sangeet and they are blessed with two sons and a
daughter.
Shri Mukherjee enjoys reading, gardening and music in his spare time.
Simple in his tastes, Shri Mukherjee is a dedicated patron of the arts and
culture.
An avid traveller, there are few parts of India and few countries in the
world he has not visited in his illustrious and long public career.
Detailed ProfileAdministrative Career:
Deputy Minister, Industrial Development February 1973 to January
1974.
Deputy Minister, Shipping and Transport January 1974 to October
1974
Deputy Minister, Steel and Industry . . .
Minister of State for Finance October 1974 to December
1975
Minister of State for Revenue and Banking
(Independent Charge)
December 1975 to March
1977
Cabinet Minister of Commerce and Steel
and Mines
January 1980 to January
1982
Cabinet Minister of Finance January 1982 to December
1984
Additional charge of the Ministry of
Commerce and Supply
September to December 31,
1984
Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission June 1991 to May 1996
Cabinet Minister of Commerce January 1993 to February
1995
Cabinet Minister of External Affairs February 1995 to May 1996
Cabinet Minister of Defence May 2004 to 24 October
2006
Cabinet Minister of External Affairs October 2006 to May 2009
Cabinet Minister of Finance 24 January 2009 to 26 June
2012
Parliamentary Career:
Elected to Rajya Sabha 1969, 1975, 1981, 1993,
1999
Elected to Lok Sabha 2004, 2009, upto July 2012
Deputy Leader of the Congress Party in the
Rajya Sabha
1978-80
Chief Whip of Congress Party in the Rajya
Sabha
1996-2004
Leader of House in the Rajya Sabha 1980-85
Member, Business Advisory Committee, Committee on Privileges and Committee on
Rules
Member, Consultative Committee on
External Affairs
1996-99
Chairman, Parliament Standing Committee
on Science and Technology, Environment
and Forests
1997
Chairman, Parliament Standing Committee
on Home Affairs
June 1998 to May 2004
Leader of the Lok Sabha June 2004 to June 2012
Career in the Congress Party:
Member, Congress Working Committee January 27, 1978 to January
18, 1986, August 10, 1997
till June 25, 2012
President, West Bengal Pradesh Congress
Committee
1985, August 2000 to June,
2010
Member, Central Parliamentary Board, All
India Congress Committee (AICC)
1978 to 1986
Treasurer of the AICC 1978 to 1979
Treasurer of the Congress (I) Party in
Parliament
1978 to 1979
Chairman, Economic Advisory Cell, AICC 1987 to 1989
Chairman, Campaign Committee of the
AICC for conducting National Elections to
Parliament
1984, 1991, 1996. 1998,
1999
Chairman, Central Election Coordination
Committee of the AICC
June 28, 1999 onwards
Member, Central Election Committee, AICC December 12, 2001 to 25
June, 2012
Resigned from the Congress Party prior to
contesting to the office of President of India
25 June, 2012
Membership in International
Organizations:
Board of Governors of the International
Monetary Fund (IMF)
1982 to 1985, 2009 - 2012
Board of Governors, World Bank 1982 to 1985, 2009 to 2012Board of Governors, Asian Development
Bank (ADB)
1982 to 1985, 2009 to 2012
Board of Governors, African Development
Bank
1982 to 1985, 2009 to 2012
Chairman, Group of 24 nations in IMF and
World Bank
1984, 2011-12
Chairman, South Asian Association for
Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Council of
Ministers Conference
May 1995, November 1995,
April 2007
Leadership of Indian delegations abroad:
Colombo Plan Finance Ministers’
Conference, Singapore and Colombo
1975, 1976
The Commonwealth Finance Ministers’
Conferences
1982, 1983, 1984
The Annual Meetings of the World Bank and
IMF
1982, 1983, 1984, 2009,
2010, 2011, 2012
Annual Meetings of the ADB 1982, 1983, 1984, 2010,
2011, 2012
Ministerial Conference of WTO at Marrakesh 1994
The United Nations General Assembly 1994, 1995, 2005, 2006
The Social Summit at Copenhagen 1995
The 40th Anniversary of the Afro-Asian
Conference at Bandung
1995
The Conference of Commonwealth Heads of
Government (CHOGM), Auckland
1995
The Non-Aligned Foreign Minister’s
Conference, Cartagena
1995
Social and Cultural Activities:
President of the Nikhil Bharat Banga
Sahitya Sammelan
1995 to 2001, 2004 to June
2012
Chairman, Planning Board, Asiatic Society,
Kolkata
1984 to 1986, 1992 to 1996,
2004-2012
Trustee, Bangiya Sahitya Parishad 1984 to 1990
Trustee Bidhan Memorial Trust, Kolkata 1998 to June 2012
Books Published:Beyond Survival: Emerging Dimensions of
Indian Economy
1984
Off the Track 1987
Saga of Struggle and Sacrifice 1992
Challenges Before the Nation (on Indian
National Congress)
1992
