Pawan Kumar Bansal

Some Lesser Known Facts About Pawan Kumar Bansal

• In 1969, Pawan Kumar Bansal was appointed as the President and General Secretary of the Panjab University Youth Service Club.

• He served as the Secretary of the Panjab University Student Council from 1970 to 1971.

• Pawan Kumar Bansal served as the General Secretary of Chandigarh Territorial Youth Congress from 1976 to 1978.

• He was appointed as the General Secretary of the Punjab Pradesh Youth Congress in 1978. He served in the position till 1982.

• In 1978, Pawan Kumar Bansal served as the Secretary of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association.

• In 1982, he was elected as the President of Chandigarh Territorial Youth Congress.

• He served as the President of the Punjab Pradesh Youth Congress from 1982 to 1983.

• From 1984 to 1986, Pawan Kumar Bansal served as a member of the Committee on Subordinate Legislation, General Purposes Committee, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Joint Parliamentary Committee on Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill, Parliamentary Committee on the Structure of Pay, Allowances, Leave and Pensionary Benefits for the Officers and Staff of the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha Secretariats.

• He served as a member of the Panel of Vice-Chairmen in Rajya Sabha from 1985 to 1987.

• In 1986, Pawan Kumar Bansal served as a member of the Joint Committee on Railways Bill.

• From 1989 to 1990, he served as the Deputy Chief Whip of the Congress Party in Rajya Sabha and as a member of the Public Accounts Committee.

• In 1991, Pawan Kumar Bansal was elected to the 10th Lok Sabha as a member of Parliament for Chandigarh.

• From 1993 to 1996, he served as a chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the 83rd Constitution Amendment Bill and Representation of People (Amendment) Bill, member of the Standing Committee on Commerce, the Standing Committee on Communications, the Business Advisory Committee, the Committee on Rules, and Committee on Estimates.

• In 1997, Pawan Kumar Bansal was appointed as the President of the Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee. He served in the position till 1998.

• In 1999, when he was elected to the 10th Lok Sabha as a member of Parliament for Chandigarh, he was given the responsibility of Consultative Committee in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

• From 1999 to 2004, Pawan Kumar Bansal served as a member of the Business Advisory Committee, Committee on Ethics, and Joint Parliamentary Committee on Central Vigilance Commission Bill.

• He served as a member of the Standing Committee on Information Technology and Communications and a member of the Consultative Committee in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting from 2000 to 2004.

• In 2004, Pawan Kumar Bansal was elected to the 14th Lok Sabha as a member of Parliament for Chandigarh. During the same year, he served as the Secretary of the Press Council of India.

• From 2004 to 2012, he served as a treasurer of the Indian Parliamentary Group (IPG).

• In 2009, Pawan Kumar Bansal was elected to the 14th Lok Sabha as a member of Parliament for Chandigarh.

• From 2009 to 2012, he served as the Union Cabinet Minister of Water Resources in the Second Manmohan Singh Ministry.

  

• In 2011, Pawan Kumar Bansal was appointed as the Union Cabinet Minister of Science and Technology and Minister of Earth Sciences.

• In October 2012, he became the Railway Minister, the first from his party since 1996.

• Soon after becoming the Railway Minister, Pawan Kumar Bansal approved a fare increase to make Indian Railways profitable after 15 years of unchanged fares.

• The 2013 Railway Budget was led by him. This budget focused on improving Indian Railways, which included the first rail link to Arunachal Pradesh, internet ticketing available nearly 24 hours a day, and mobile e-ticketing.

  

• In the same budget, four groups of RPF women personnel were created, with plans for eight more, to improve passenger safety, especially for women.

• Under his leadership, Indian Railways suggested upgrading 104 stations in cities with over one million people and religious importance, with a focus on cleanliness.

• It was also announced to install 179 escalators and 400 lifts at major stations to help elderly and differently-abled passengers.

• On 3 May 2013, the CBI arrested Pawan Kumar Bansal’s nephew, Vijay Singla, while accepting a bribe of Rs. 90 lakh.

  

• After the scam was revealed, the CBI questioned Bansal for ten hours but found no strong evidence against him. Bansal denied knowing anything about his nephew’s activities in his statement.

• The CBI found no recorded conversations proving that Bansal was involved in or aware of the bribery scandal, so he was not charged in the case.

• The CBI then decided to make Bansal a prosecution witness. The judge stated that since there was no evidence against Bansal, the court could not take any action or question him except during the trial.

• Pawan Kumar Bansal contested the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha Elections from Chandigarh but was defeated both times.

  

• He has attended many Indian Parliamentary Delegations to other countries including Zimbabwe (1986), the U.N. General Assembly (1994), the Workshop on WTO (Singapore) (2004), and the 2nd China-India Financial Conference in Shanghai (2008).

• Pawan Kumar Bansal has a special interest in activities related to education, environment, and electoral reforms.

• He has served as a faculty member of the Indian Bureau of Parliamentary Studies and Training (BPST).