Father’s Name
Late Shri Vishwanath Rao
Mother’s Name
Smt. Bhagiriti Bai
Date of Birth
12 October 1935
Place of Birth
Vill. Chakur, Tehsil Latur, Distt. Latur (Maharashtra)
Marital Status
Married
Date of Marriage
3 June 1963
Spouse’s Name
Late Smt. Vijaya Patil
No. of Sons
One
No. of Daughters
One
Educational
B.Sc., LL.M.
Qualifications
Educated at Osmania University, Hyderabad and Bombay
University, Mumbai
Profession
Advocate, Agriculturist, Political and Social Worker
and
Hony. Professor of Law
Permanent Address
‘DEO GHAR’, Sadbhavna Nagar, Ausa Road,
Latur-413 512 (Maharashtra)
Tels. (02382) 43392, 43292
Present Address
4, Janpath,
New Delhi-110 001
Tels. (011) 3794833, 3794842
Positions Held
1967-69,
President, Municipality, Latur
1971 and 1972
1972-79
Member, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly (two terms)
1974-75
Chairman, Public Undertakings Committee
1975-76
Deputy Minister, Law and Judiciary,
Irrigation and Protocol, Maharashtra
1977-78
Deputy Speaker, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly
1978-79
Speaker, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly
1980
Elected to 7th Lok Sabha
May-Sept. 1980
Member, Joint Committee on Salaries and Allowances of
Members of Parliament
Sept.-Oct. 1980
Chairman, Joint Committee on Salaries and Allowances
of
Members of Parliament
1980-82
Union Minister of State, Defence
1982-83
Union Minister of State, Commerce (Independent Charge)
1983-84
Union Minister of State, Science and Technology, Atomic
Energy, Electronics, Space and Ocean Development
1984
Re-elected to 8th Lok Sabha (2nd term)
1984-86
Union Minister of State, Science and Technology, Space,
Atomic Energy, Electronics, Ocean Development and
Bio Technology
1985
Union Minister of State, Personnel and Training, Public
Grievances and Pensions and Administrative Reforms
1986-88
Union Minister of State, Defence Production
1988-89
Union Minister of State,
Civil Aviation and Tourism (Independent Charge)
1989
Re-elected to 9th Lok Sabha (3rd term)
1990-91
Deputy Speaker, Lok Sabha
Chairman, Library Committee
Chairman, Committee on Private Members’ Bills
and
Resolutions
Member, General Purposes Committee
Member, Business Advisory Committee
1991
Re-elected to 10th Lok Sabha (4th term)
1991-96
Speaker, Lok Sabha
Chairman, (i) Business Advisory Committee; (ii) Rules
Committee;
and (iii) General Purposes Committee; and
Standing
Committee of the Conference of Presiding Officers
of
the Legislative Bodies in India; President, (i) Indian
Parliamentary
Group; (ii) National Group of Inter-
Parliamentary Union; and (iii) India Branch of the
Commonwealth Parliamentary Association
1996
Re-elected to 11th Lok Sabha (5th term)
1996-98
Member, Committee on Defence
1998
Re-elected to 12th Lok Sabha (6th term)
1998-99
Member, Committee on External Affairs
Member, Rules Committee
Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of External
Affairs
1999
Re-elected to 13th Lok Sabha (7th term)
1999-2000
Chairman, Committee on Finance
Member, Committee of Privileges
Member, General Purposes Committee
2000 onwards
Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Home Affairs
Books Published
(i) Reminiscences and Reflections;
(ii) Emerging Vision of India; (iii) Ecstasy and Agony
of a Presiding Officer; and (iv) Fragrance of Innerself
Special Interests
Reading and writing
Favourite Pastime and Recreation
Reading, painting and farming
Sports and Clubs
Swimming, horse-riding and shooting
Countries Visited
Widely travelled (41 countries);
Leader, Indian Parliamentary Delegation to, (i) 86th
Inter-Parliamentary Conference, Santiago, Chile, 1991;
(ii) 38th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference, Nassau,
Bahamas, 1992; (iii) 39th Commonwealth Parliamentary
Conference, Cyprus, 1993; (iv) 90th Inter-Parliamentary
Conference, Canberra, Australia, 1993; (v) 40th Commonwealth
Parliamentary Conference, Banff, Canada, 1994;
(vi) 41st Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference, Colombo,
Sri Lanka, 1995; (vii) 94th Inter-Parliamentary Conference,
Bucharest, Romania, 1995; and (viii) Special Session
of the Inter-Parliamentary Council on the occasion of
the 50th Anniversary of the United Nations, New York,
1995; and attended Conference of SAARC Speakers, Colombo,
Sri Lanka, 1992; also led Indian Parliamentary Delegations
to several countries, 1991-95
Other Information
During the tenure of his Speakership
of Lok Sabha, India had the privilege of hosting in
New Delhi as many as four major International Parliamentary
Conferences, viz. (i) 37th Commonwealth Parliamentary
Conference, September 1991; (ii) 89th Inter-Parliamentary
Conference, April 1993; (iii) Sixth Commonwealth Parliamentary
Seminar, January 1994; and (iv) First Conference of
the Association of SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians,
July 1995; he took initiative and formulated the scheme
for creating seventeen Departmentally Related Standing
Committees of Parliament which were formally inaugurated
on 31 March 1993; gave a new thrust to the ongoing computerisation
and modernisation of Lok Sabha Secretariat, especially
the information service to the members and they were
provided with computers to get instant and up-to-date
information on a wide range of activities; initiated
and got started the construction of a modern ‘Parliament
Library Building’ to cater to the information
needs of the members; another initiative undertaken
by him was the starting of televising of parliamentary
proceedings in the first instance and later live telecast
of Lok Sabha proceedings since 25 August 1994 within
a range of 15 km. from Parliament House, besides the
live telecast of the Question Hour of both the Houses
of Parliament on alternate weeks throughout India; got
set up a modernised state-of-the-art studio for televising
parliamentary proceedings through robotic cameras; took
personal interest by conceptualising and directing six
films on parliamentary practice and procedures produced
by the Lok Sabha Secretariat; took initiative in starting
fellowship awards by the Lok Sabha Secretariat to the
researchers conducting studies on subjects related to
parliamentary institutions; Vice-President, CSIR, 1983-86
