Ravi Shankar Prasad | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha forPatna Sahib | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 23 May 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Shatrughan Sinha | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Union Minister of State Government of India | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2002–2003 | Law and Justice | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2001–2002 | Coal Mines | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha forBihar | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 3 April 2000 – 30 May 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1954-08-30)30 August 1954 (age 71) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Bharatiya Janata Party | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Maya Shankar | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Patna University (BA,MA,LLB) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Profession | Lawyer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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As of 26 June 2024 Source:[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ravi Shankar Prasad (born 30 August 1954)[citation needed] is anIndian politician and lawyer who serverd as 1stMinister of Electronics and Information Technology from 2016 to 2019 and 2019 to 2021.[2] He is the member ofBharatiya Janata Party and Member ofParliament since 2000, first in theRajya Sabha (2000–2019) and then in theLok Sabha (since 2019), Prasad has served asUnion Minister multiple times: As Minister of State, he served in the ministries ofCoal (2001–2003),Law and Justice (2002–2003), andInformation and Broadcasting (2003–2004) underAtal Bihari Vajpayee's premiership; as Cabinet Minister, he held the Law and Justice (2014, 2016–2021),Communications (2014–2016, 2019–2021) portfolios underNarendra Modi's premiership.[3]
His term as Union Minister was marked with the repeal of 1500 archaic laws, handling oflitigation over the purchase of Rafale fighter planes, and digitization of 15000trial courts. On the other hand, his tenure also saw controversy over the proposedNational Judicial Appointments Commission, constant friction betweenthe judiciary andthe executive, and rows with social media platformsTwitter andFacebook over local rules.[4]
He was born in a religiousChitraguptavanshi Kayastha family inPatna,Bihar.[5][6] His fatherThakur Prasad was a senior advocate at thePatna High Court and one of the leading founders of theJan Sangh, the predecessor of theBharatiya Janata Party.[7] His sister Anuradha Prasad is the owner of BAG Films and Media Ltd, and the wife ofCongress politicianRajeev Shukla.[8][6]
Prasad earnedBA Hons,MA (Political Science) andLL.B degrees fromPatna University.[7] He became a member of theAkhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad in 1969. Prasad participated in the student movement in Bihar led byJayaprakash Narayan, and was imprisoned duringthe Emergency.[2][9]
Prasad has been practising at the Patna High Court (HC) since 1980. He was designated Senior Advocate at the Patna HC in 1999 and Senior Advocate at theSupreme Court of India in 2000.[2][10] He was General Secretary of thePeople's Union for Civil Liberties in Bihar.[2]
Prasad appeared in theRam JanmabhoomiAyodhya dispute representing theHindu Mahasabha in the case.[11] He defendedLal Krishna Advani in court when the latter was arrested in Bihar duringhis Rath Yatra in 1990. He was also the main lawyer arguing thePIL against formerBihar Chief MinisterLalu Prasad in thefodder scam that led to the jailing of several politicians and officials, including Lalu Yadav.[6][9]
Prasad began his political career as a student leader under the leadership of Jayaprakash Narayan in the 1970s, organising protests againstIndira Gandhi's government.[7]
A loyalist of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from the beginning of his political career, Prasad was National Vice President of theBharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, the youth wing of the BJP, from 1991 to 1995. He became a Member of the BJP's National Executive Committee in 1995.[3][9]
In April 2000, Prasad was elected to theRajya Sabha, theupper house of theIndian Parliament for the first time. UnderAtal Bihari Vajpayee's premiership, Prasad served asMinister of State in the ministries ofCoal (2001–2003), where he was responsible for accelerating the coal and mining reforms;Law and Justice (2002–2003); andInformation and Broadcasting (2003–2004). As Minister of Information and Broadcasting, he introduced reforms in the radio, television and animation sectors which improved their quality and functioning.[3][7]
Prasad was appointed as a national spokesperson of the BJP in March 2006, and was later elevated to the post of its Chief National Spokesperson in 2007. In 2010, he became the party's general secretary.[3][7]
Prasad was re-elected to the Rajya Sabha for a second term in April 2006 and for a third in April 2012. As anMP, he was part of variousparliamentary committees, including ajoint parliamentary committee to examine matters relating to2G spectrum case from 2011 to 2013.[3]
With the BJP-ledNational Democratic Alliance's victory in the2014 general election,[12] Prasad rose to become part of theNarendra Modi Cabinet. He was appointed asMinister of Law and Justice andMinister for Communications and Information Technology on 27 May 2014. He would go on to serve three terms as Law Minister: 27 May to 9 November 2014; 5 July 2016 to 25 May 2019; and 30 May 2019 to 7 July 2021; a tenure of more than 5 years that was second only to that ofAshoke Sen.[13] Prasad was Minister of Communications and IT till the ministry's bifurcation on 5 July 2016 into aMinistry of Communications and aMinistry of Electronics and Information Technology, following which he took charge of the latter. He was on the job till 25 May 2019, and again from 30 May 2019 to 7 July 2021. During the latter period, he also held the Communications portfolio.[3]
One of Prasad's first acts after becoming Law Minister in 2014 was introducing legislation for theNational Judicial Appointments Commission, which sought to reform the collegium system by which judges select candidates to be appointed as new judges. The collegium system had been criticised as opaque. The law was unanimously passed in Parliament and ratified by more than 20 states. However, in 2015, the Supreme Court of India struck it down, arguing that the Law Minister's presence in the Appointments Commission would cripple judicial independence.[13]
The following year, the Law Ministry stalled many judges' appointments by objecting to various names recommended by the Supreme Court collegium. Prasad defendedthe executive in this faceoff withthe judiciary by rolling out statistics showing an increased number of judges being appointed in the year 2016.[13]
On 22 August 2017, the Supreme Court ruled theMuslim practice of instant divorce by uttering the word "talaq" thrice, calledtalaq-e-biddat or tripletalaq, as "arbitrary and unconstitutional", violating women'sright to equality, and not integral toIslam.[14] Following this landmark verdict, the NDA government tabledThe Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill in theLok Sabha in December 2017, seeking to introduce a 3-year jail term for offenders. The opposition criticised the bill for attempting to criminalise a civil wrong, with Law Minister Prasad countering the charges. While the original bill lapsed due to lack of support in the Rajya Sabha, it was passed by both Houses of Parliament on reintroduction in 2019, becoming an Act after receivingPresidential assent on 1 August 2019. The passage of the bill despite the ruling NDA not having a majority in the Rajya Sabha was seen as a victory for Prasad and the government.[15][16][17]
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As Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, Prasad spearheaded the NDA government's flagshipDigital India programme.[18] Prasad himself has highlighted the common service centre scheme under Digital India, providing digital delivery of services and creating employment, as the biggest achievement of the government in the digital technology sector. He has also pointed out the establishment ofbusiness processing and outsourcing units (BPOs) in far-flung areas and the growth ofelectronic manufacturing units in India as successful government efforts.[19] TheUK-basedNGO Apolitical adjudged him as one of the top twenty leaders in the list of 100 most influential people in Digital Government in 2018.[18]
In 2018, Prasad was placed among the top twenty influential world leaders in digital technology and e-government, with his role in theDigital India programme and support fornet neutrality.[18][20]
Prasad took the lead in advancing India's startup ecosystem and pioneered the organization of groundbreaking townhall meetings. These meetings provided a platform for assessing the distinctive requirements of the startup community, and Prasad played a pivotal role in shaping government policies and initiatives designed to bolster the support for startups in the nation.[21][22]
In October 2019, Prasad tried to defend the condition of theIndian economy by commenting that "the holiday of October 2 saw earning[s] of overRs 120crore by three movies –War,Joker andSye Raa", indicating that "[t]he economy is sound". He also claimed that anNSSO report on unemployment was false. The comment came on the back of industrial output figures released by the government showing how factory output had shrunk by 1.1% in August, recording the poorest performance in seven years. TheWorld Bank had also pointed out the country's wideningcurrent account deficit and predicted a further slowdown ineconomic growth. After coming under sharp criticism from the opposition Congress andCPIM, Prasad withdrew the comment, stating it had been taken out of context.[23][24]
Prasad has openly supported the cause ofnet neutrality, insisting that internet access "is not negotiable" and “walled gardens cannot be allowed”. As Minister for Communications and IT, Prasad had denied Facebook permission for itsFree Basics platform in India in 2016, saying it provided access to only a host of websites and services, while excluding the broader internet from its purview.[25][20]
On 25 February, theInformation Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 were notified,[26][27] seeking to regulatesocial media intermediaries and to tackle misuse of social media. However, Prasad and his Ministry were soon drawn into a bitter spat withBig Tech companies, especiallyTwitter, over the implementation of these local laws. The tussle escalated as the government removed Twitter's legal protection in India as an "intermediary" on June 16 over its failure to comply with the new IT rules,[28][29] while Twitter temporarily locked Prasad's official handle on its platform due to a copyright violation.[30]
In Lok Sabha 2024 Ravi Shankar Prasad has won in Patna Sahib Lok Sabha constituency. He has defeated Dr. Anshul Avijit by about 1.5 lakh votes.[31]
On 3 February 1982, Prasad married Maya Shankar, who is a Historian and Professor of History at Patna University.[10][32]
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Preceding Ministry:Ministry of Communications and Information Technology | ||||||||||||||||||||
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