Father's Name	Late Shri P.A. Nazareth
Mother’s Name	Smt. E.L. Nazareth
Date of Birth	14 April 1942
Place of Birth	Mangalore, Distt. South Kanara (Karnataka)
Marital Status	Married
Date of Marriage	24 May 1964
Spouse’s Name	Shri Niranjan Alva
No. of Sons	Three
No. of Daughters	One
Educational Qualifications	B.A., B.L., Hon. Doctorate Educated at Mt. Carmel College and  Government Law College, Bangalore (Karnataka)
Profession	Advocate
Permanent Address	11, Milton Street, Cooke Town, Bangalore-560 001 (Karnataka) Tel. (080) 5469799
Present Address	12, Safdarjung Lane, New Delhi-110 003 Tels. (011) 3792777, 3793663
Positions Held	Member, All India Congress Committee
1972-73	Convenor, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Women’s Front
1974-80	Member, Rajya Sabha; Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of External Affairs
1975-76	Convenor, Congress Parliamentary Party; Member, Committee on Information and Broadcasting
1975-76 and 1990-91	Member, Executive, Congress Parliamentary Party
1975-77	Joint Secretary, All India Congress Committee
1978-80	General Secretary, Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC), Karnataka
1980-86	Member, Rajya Sabha (2nd term); Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of External Affairs
1983-85	Member,  Panel of Vice-Chairmen, Rajya Sabha
1983-88	National Convenor, Mahila Congress
1984-85	Union Minister of State, Parliamentary Affairs; Member, Committee on Public Undertakings
1985-89	Union Minister of State, Youth Affairs, Sports, Women and Child Development in the Ministry of  Human Resource Development
1986-92	Member, Rajya Sabha (3rd term)
1990-91	Chairman, Committee on Papers Laid on the Table, Rajya Sabha
1991	Union Minister of State, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
1992-98	Member, Rajya Sabha (4th term)
1993-95	Deputy Chief Whip, Congress Party, Rajya Sabha
1993-96	Union Minister of State, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions with additional charge of  Parliamentary Affairs
1996-97	Member, Committee on External Affairs
1996-98	Member, Committee on Public Accounts; Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
1999	Elected to 13th Lok Sabha; Member, Panel of Chairmen
1999-2000	Member, Committee on Transport and Tourism; Member, House Committee; Member, General Purposes Committee
2000-2001	Chairman, Committee on the Empowerment of Women
2000 onwards	Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Tourism
Literary, Artistic and  Scientific Accomplishments	Course in oil painting, interior decoration and  Ikebana
Social and Cultural Activities	Founder President, “Karuna”, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) working for women and children
Special Interests	Foreign affairs and women’s development issues
Favourite Pastime and Recreation	Painting, music, drama and travel
Sports and Clubs	Member, (i) India International Centre;  (ii) Delhi Gymkhana Club; and (iii) Bangalore Club
Countries Visited	Widely travelled
Other Information	Best All Round Student, Mt. Carmel College, 1961; Conferred, (i) The Hon. Degree of Doctorate of Literature by the University of Mysore, 1989; (ii) Mahila Siromani Award, 1991; (iii) Rajiv Gandhi Excellence Award, 1991; and (iv) Dr.  T.M.A. Pai Foundation Outstanding Konkani Award, 1991; President, (i) Delhi Y.W.C.A., 1975-78; (ii) Delhi Foundation of Deaf Women, 1975-82; and (iii) World Women  Parliamentarians for Peace, 1986-88; Chairperson, (i) Foreign Students’ Welfare Committee of  Indian Council of Cultural Relations, 1982-84; (ii) SAARC Technical Committee on Women, 1985-86; and (iii) UN Expert Group meeting on Women in Decision making, Vienna, 1987; General Secretary, All India Catholic University Federation, 1961; Joint Secretary, Government Law College Students Union, 1963-64; Member, (i) Indian Committee for International Women’s Year, 1975, (ii) Indian Delegation to U.N. Conference for International Women’s Year at Mexico, 1975;(iii) Indian Delegation to the United Nations General Assembly, 1976 and 1998; (iv) Central Youth Advisory Board, 1976-77; (v) National Children’s Board,  1977-78; (vi) National Adult Education Board, 1978-79; (vii) National Committee on Child Labour, 1979; (viii) Governing Council of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations, 1982-84; (ix) Bar Council of India; (x) Panel of Eminent Persons for Asia and the Pacific for HRD (ESCAP); (xi) Governing Council of SID, Rome; and (xii) Commonwealth Observer Group for Elections in Camaroon; daughter-in-law of late Joachim Alva and Violet Alva, freedom fighters and the first couple in the Indian Parliament;  elected to IPU Co-ordinating Committee of Women Parliamentarians, 2000.; Spokesperson, Congress Parliamentary Party