E-Paper
A more educated Lok Sabha, from the first to 13th
The educational level of Lok Sabha members has grown over the years. There were more graduates, post-graduates and doctoral degree holders in the just concluded 13th Lok Sabha than in the first. This, though the first Lok Sabha had members of the erudition of Nehru and Azad.
The educational level of Lok Sabha members has grown over the years. There were more graduates, post-graduates and doctoral degree holders in the just concluded 13th Lok Sabha than in the first. This, though the first Lok Sabha had members of the erudition of Nehru and Azad.
The last House had more PhDs than under-matriculates. Of the 32 members listed as doctorates, several have been lifelong academics. The best known of them is HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi, once known for his expertise in spectroscopy.
Another lifelong academic in the House was Beatrix D’Souza. This nominated member from Chennai holds a PhD in Australian literature. Vijay Kumar Malhotra from Delhi, whose PhD thesis was on the writings of Sohan Lal Dwivedi, taught at DU for 36 years.
Bikram Sarkar, Trinamool MP, is an expert in management and law, and a visiting professor at the school of management at IIT Kharagpur. Nitish Sengupta, also of the Trinamool, was a gold medallist in Economics at Calcutta University. He has been a lecturer at the Ahmedabad and Calcutta IIMs.
Ummareddy Venkataswaralu of the TDP taught at the Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University.
Several medical doctors also found their way into the Lok Sabha. Minister for Small Scale Industries and the Northeast, C.P. Thakur, an MBBS gold medallist, is an authority on Leishmaniasis and was a member of the World Health Organization’s Scientific Working Group on the subject.
Ajit Singh is among the serious technocrats in Parliament. He is the only IITan in the Lok Sabha.
House shining
Ajit Singh is an IIT alumnus, Nitish Sengupta has taught at two IIMs. Vijay Kumar Malhotra has a PhD in Hindi literature. Murli Manohar Joshi is an expert in spectroscopy. U Venkataswarulu is an agriculture scientist
