Harsh Vardhan | |
|---|---|
 Vardhan at the inauguration of India-Canada Technology Summit, inNew Delhi, 2017 | |
| Chairman of the WHO Executive Board | |
| In office 22 May 2020 (2020-05-22) – 2 June 2021 (2021-06-02) | |
| Preceded by | Hiroki Nakatani |
| Succeeded by | Patrick Amoth |
| Minister of Health and Family Welfare | |
| In office 30 May 2019 (2019-05-30) – 7 July 2021 (2021-07-07) | |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Preceded by | Jagat Prakash Nadda |
| Succeeded by | Mansukh L. Mandaviya |
| In office 26 May 2014 (2014-05-26) – 9 November 2014 (2014-11-09) | |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Preceded by | Ghulam Nabi Azad |
| Succeeded by | Jagat Prakash Nadda |
| Minister of Science and Technology | |
| In office 9 November 2014 (2014-11-09) – 7 July 2021 (2021-07-07) | |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Preceded by | Jitendra Singh |
| Succeeded by | Jitendra Singh |
| Minister of Earth Sciences | |
| In office 9 November 2014 (2014-11-09) – 7 July 2021 (2021-07-07) | |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Preceded by | Jitendra Singh |
| Succeeded by | Jitendra Singh |
| Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha | |
| In office 16 May 2014 (2014-05-16) – 4 June 2024 (2024-06-04) | |
| Preceded by | Kapil Sibal |
| Succeeded by | Praveen Khandelwal |
| Constituency | Chandni Chowk |
| Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change | |
| In office 27 May 2017 (2017-05-27) – 30 May 2019 (2019-05-30) | |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Preceded by | Anil Madhav Dave |
| Succeeded by | Prakash Javadekar |
| Member of theDelhi Legislative Assembly | |
| In office 2 December 1993 – 16 May 2014 (2014-05-16) | |
| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Succeeded by | S. K. Bagga |
| Constituency | Krishna Nagar |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Harshvardhan Goel[1] (1954-12-13)13 December 1954 (age 70) |
| Political party | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Spouse | Nutan Goel |
| Children | 3 |
| Residence | New Delhi |
| Alma mater | Zakir Husain College, Delhi Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Memorial Medical College (MBBS) and (MS) |
| Profession | |
Harsh Vardhan (bornHarshvardhan Goel,[1] 13 December 1954) is anIndianpolitician andotorhinolaryngologist. He had served as theMinister of Health and Family Welfare,Minister of Science and Technology andMinister of Earth Sciences in theBJP-ledNDA government of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi from 30 May 2019 to 7 July 2021.[citation needed] He representsChandni Chowk inDelhi as aMember of Parliament in the17th Lok Sabha. He was elected to the office of chairperson of the executive board of theWorld Health Organization from 22 May 2020.[2] Vardhan has been prominent in theIndian government's response to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[3] He later resigned from his cabinet post ahead of thecabinet reshuffle in July 2021.[citation needed]
He retired from active politics on 4 March 2024 after allegedly being denied a ticket for the2024 Lok Sabha elections.[4]
Harsh Vardhan was born in Delhi to Om Prakash Goel and Sneh Lata Goel.[5] Vardhan finished his schooling from Happy School,Daryaganj, in 1971. He attendedZakir Husain Delhi College of theUniversity of Delhi andGanesh Shankar Vidyarthi Memorial Medical College of theKanpur University, where he graduated in 1979 with aBachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery. He earned hisMaster of Surgery inOtorhinolaryngology from the same college in 1983.[citation needed] He has been a member of theRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh since childhood.[6]
In 1993, Vardhan was elected as a member of the Delhi Assembly representing Krishna Nagar.[7] He was appointed as the State Minister of Health and Minister of Law for Delhi.[8] He later became the state Minister of Education in 1996.[9] He has been re-elected from the same constituency in the 1998, 2003, 2008 and 2013 elections.[10][11][12][13]
Vardhan as the State Minister of Health in 1994 oversaw the implementation of the pilot project of the Pulse Polio Programme which involved the mass immunisation of 1 million children up to the age of 3 in Delhi.[14] In 1995, this programme was launched nationwide leading to 88 million children being immunised.[15] On 28 March 2014, India was declared polio-free by the WHO, as there had been no reported cases for three years.[16]
In 1997, the Delhi Prohibition of Smoking and Non-Smokers Health Protection Act was passed in the Delhi assembly which was one of the first anti-tobacco laws implemented by any state government.[17] The act applied across the NCT of Delhi. It prohibited smoking in places of public work or use for example hospitals, restaurants, and educational institutions and in public service vehicles. It also prohibited the sale of smoking substances such as tobacco and beedis to anyone below the age of eighteen. Smoking products could not also be sold or stored within 100 metres of any educational institution. Under the provisions of the act, fines would be applied to anyone who contravened the law and they could potentially be ejected from places of public use by the police.[18]
On 23 October 2013, Vardhan was named theChief Minister candidate for Delhi Assembly elections by the BJP.[19] After the 2013 elections, BJP emerged as the single largest party winning 31 out of the 70 seats in theFifth Legislative Assembly of Delhi. However, they fell short of an absolute majority so were unable to form the government.[20]
Vardhan contested the Chandni Chowk seat in Delhi where he defeated the incumbent Union Minister of Law and Justice,Kapil Sibal of the Indian National Congress.[21] He was also appointed in thefirst Narendra Modi government as Minister of Health and Family Welfare on 26 May 2014.[22][23] In May 2017, he was given the additional charge ofMinistry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change following the death of MinisterAnil Madhav Dave.[24]
Vardhan again contested the Chandni Chowk seat in Delhi where he defeated Congress candidateJai Parkash Aggarwal by a margin of 2,28,145 votes. While he received 52.94% votes, runner-up Aggarwal polled 29.67% votes.[25]
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In theFirst Modi ministry, Vardhan briefly led theMinistry of Health and Family Welfare in 2014 before being reassigned to theMinistry of Science and Technology andMinistry of Earth Sciences from 2014 to 2021. During his first stint as Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Vardhan was criticized for his indifference to theCentral Drugs Standard Control Organisation's failure to regulate quality control issues among Indian manufacturers ofgeneric drugs.[26]
From 2017 to 2019, Vardhan led theMinistry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and from 2019 to 2021, he returned to leading the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in theSecond Modi ministry.[27][28][29] During theCOVID-19 pandemic in India, Vardhan endorsed an untested herbal cure devised by yoga guruRamdev, prompting criticism from health experts.[30] In early March 2021, he erroneously declared that the country was in the "endgame" of the pandemic, shortly before infections across the country rose dramatically in an April second wave.[3] Vardhan declared that children of health care workers who died during COVID-19 pandemic should be reserved seats in MBBS and BDS colleges.[31]
At the 105th Indian Science Congress in March 2018, after the death of legendary British scientistStephen Hawking, Vardhan claimed that Hawking had said that theVedas postulated a theory superior toAlbert Einstein'stheory of relativity, despite the fact that there is no record of Hawking having made the statement.[32][33][34]
In 2019, after theHealth Effects Institute released a scientific report estimating 1.2 million annual deaths in India due to air pollution, Vardhan denied the results, arguing that this report was intended to create panic.[35] In 2021,Indian Medical Association (IMA), the largest association of doctors in India, issued a statement which it objected to Vardhan who was endorsing Coronil, a product ofPatanjali Ayurved.[36] IMA questioned the ethics of a national health minister releasing a fabricated and unscientific product.[37]
In 2023, a legislator from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made Islamophobic remarks and used communal slurs against a Muslim MP inside the parliament. During a Thursday night debate on 22 September 2023 on the success of India's historic moon mission, BJP MPRamesh Bidhuri calledKunwar Danish Ali of the opposition Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) a "terrorist" and a "pimp" among other anti-Islamic slurs.[38] Dr Harsh Vardhan came under attack after a video footage of the incident went viral on social media. In the video clip, he was seen sitting behindRamesh Bidhuri and appeared to be laughing.[39][40]
Vardhan has received the following awards and recognitions:[41]
Vardhan is married to Nutan, and they have two sons and one daughter.[6]
The WHO, a specialised agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health, is currently at the forefront of global efforts towards containing the novel coronavirus pandemic. Health minister Harsh Vardhan will have to work closely with Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
It may be noted that Dr. Harsh Vardhan's taking over of the post in just a formality as it was decided last year that India's nominee would be elected to the executive board for a three-year term in May 2020. The post is held by rotation for one year among regional groups. Further, the post is not a full-time assignment and Dr. Harsh Vardhan will only chair the board's meetings.
| Lok Sabha | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forChandni Chowk 2014 – present | Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Minister of Health and Family Welfare 26 May 2014 – 9 November 2014 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Science and Technology 9 November 2014 – 7 July 2021 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Earth Sciences 9 November 2014 – 7 July 2021 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change 18 May 2017 – 29 May 2019 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Health and Family Welfare 30 May 2019 – 7 July 2021 | Succeeded by |
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