Margaret Alva is the Governor of the India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n state of Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand , formerly Uttaranchal, is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the Land of Gods due to the many holy Hindu temples and cities found throughout the state, some of which are among Hinduism's most spiritual and auspicious places of pilgrimage and worship...

. Alva became Uttarakhand's first woman governor in July 2009. She is a senior leader of the Indian National Congress

Indian National Congress

The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...

 and was the General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee

All India Congress Committee

The All India Congress Committee is the Presidium or central decision-making assembly of the Indian National Congress Party. It is composed of members elected from State-level Pradesh Congress Committees and can have as many as a thousand members...

.

Margaret Alva was the General Secretary of the Indian National Congress, the oldest political party in India, and a close adviser to the president of the Indian National Congress, Sonia Gandhi

Sonia Gandhi

Sonia Gandhi is an Italian-born Indian politician and the President of the Indian National Congress, one of the major political parties of India. She is the widow of former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi...

. Alva was removed from her position in Congress Party following her allegations on the functioning of the Congress party pertaining to the Cash for votes scandal. A former five-term member of the Indian parliament from 1974 to 2004, she has also been appointed as advisor to the Bureau of Parliamentary Studies and Training, a body set up to improve the standards of legislative functions in the National Parliament and State Assemblies. She has spearheaded four major legislative amendments passed by the Indian parliament involving women's rights, marriage laws, equal remuneration and the reservation of quotas for women in local politics. Ms. Alva also helped draft the blueprint for policies ensuring the empowerment of women, which has been adopted by India's central and state governments. In 2003, she was honored by President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa for playing an important role in garnering support for the people of South Africa during their struggle for freedom and against apartheid. Ms. Alva is a former Minister of Human Resource Development under the government of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, which was responsible for harnessing and promoting the potential of India's massive population. A lawyer by profession, she was conferred an honorary doctorate in literature by the University of Mysore, Karnataka, India. She is the founder President of NGO 'Karuna'.

Personal life

Born to P.A. Nazareth and Elizabeth Nazareth in Mangalore, Alva moved to Bangalore to pursue her studies. She graduated with a BA, B.L., Hon. Doctorate at Mount Carmel College Bangalore

Mount Carmel College Bangalore

Mount Carmel College, Bangalore is a women's liberal arts college established on 7 July 1948. It is located in Vasanth Nagar of Bangalore, Karnataka, India. This college has courses for undergraduates as well as for postgraduates. This college is 'A+' accredited by NAAC and also, was awarded Five...

 and University Law College, Bangalore

University Law College, Bangalore

The University Law College, Bangalore University, is a pioneer legal-education institution located in the garden city of Bangalore , in the state of Karnataka, India. The college, popularly known as ULC - Bangalore, is widely recognized as one of the country’s best government run law schools...

 (then known as Government Law College). She chose to start her professional career as an advocate. She married Niranjan Alva on the 24 May 1964, with whom she has one daughter and three sons, including Niret Alva

Niret Alva

Niret Alva is an Indian television producer and anchor. He co-founded Miditech, a Rs 50-crore television software company, along with his brother Nikhil Alva in 1992, which is currently one of Asia's leading independent production companies...

 and Nikhil Alva who co-founded Miditech

Miditech

Miditech Pvt. Ltd. is a Indian film and television production company headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana, India. It was founded in 1992 by brothers, Niret Alva and Nikhil Alva and is today a Rs 50-crore television software company, and one of Asia's leading independent production companies.The...

, a Rs 50-crore television software company, in 1992. She hails from the Mangalorean Catholic community. Niranjan Alva is the son of freedom fighters and the first couple in the Indian Parliament, Joachim Alva

Joachim Alva

Joachim Alva was an Indian freedom fighter, journalist and politician from Mangalore. He was the most prominent Christian figure involved in the Indian independence movement....

 and Violet Alva

Violet Alva

Violet Hari Alva was an Indian politician and Deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha. She was the first woman lawyer to appear before a High Court in India and the first to preside over the Rajya Sabha. She was married to Indian journalist, lawyer and freedom fighter, Joachim Alva.-Early Life:Alva...

.

Controversy

In November 2008 she charged that congress seats for the elections were up for bidding as opposed to a meritocratic appointment to run for office. The party responded to the charge by denying such a claim, as well as dropping her as general secretary of the party, the Congress Working Committee and the party's Central Election Committee. She was also stripped of her charge of the congress party in Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana and Mizoram. Congress spokesperson, Shakeel Ahmad, added that "Congress president Mrs Sonia Gandhi has taken the decision on the report submitted by Mr AK Antony, chairperson of the Disciplinary Action Committee." This corroborated an outburst by the son of the congress chairperson, Rahul Gandhi, that "Democracy in political parties is non-existent in India. You cannot enter unless you are well connected." In response to the recent allegations, however, he said, "I had made some recommendations to include some younger boys. I am not unhappy with the distribution of tickets."

Key Positions Held

• 1972-73 - Convener, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Women's Front
• 1974-80 - Member, Rajya Sabha; Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of External Affairs
• 1975-76 - Convener, Congress Parliamentary Party; Member, Committee on Information and Broadcasting
• 1975-76 - 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 Convener, Mahila Congress
• 1984-85 - Minister of State, Parliamentary Affairs; Member, Committee on Public Undertakings
• 1985-89 - 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 - Minister of State, Personnel, Public Grievances and
• 1992-98 - Member, Rajya Sabha (4th term)
• 1993-95 - Deputy Chief Whip, Congress Party, Rajya Sabha
• 1993-96 - Minister of State, Personnel, Public Grievances/Pensions with additional charge of Parliamentary Affairs
• 1996-97 - Member, Committee on External Affairs
• 1996-98 - Member, Committee on Public Accounts; Member, Committee on Ministry of Information/Broadcasting
• 1999 - Elected to 13th Lok Sabha; Panel of Chairmen
• 1999-00 - Member, Committee on Transport and Tourism; Member, House Committee; Member, General Purposes Committee
• 2000-01 - Chairman, Committee on the Empowerment of Women
• 2000- - Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Tourism

Positions held

• Member, All India Congress Committee
• 1972-73 Convener, 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
• 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 Convener, 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
• Member, Executive, Congress Parliamentary Party
• 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
• 2000-2004 Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Tourism
• Literary Artistic & Scientific Accomplishments
• Course in oil painting, interior decoration and Ikebana

Awards, Honors and Achievements

• Best All Round Student, Mt. Carmel College, 1961; Conferred,

• The Hon. Degree of Doctorate of Literature by the University of Mysore, 1989
• Mahila Siromani Award, 1991
• Rajiv Gandhi Excellence Award, 1991; and
• Dr. T.M.A. Pai Foundation Outstanding Konkani Award, 1991;

• She is the President of Delhi Y.W.C.A., 1975–78; Delhi Foundation of Deaf Women, 1975–82; and World Women Parliamentarians for Peace, 1986–88 and

• Chairperson of: (i) Foreign Students' Welfare Committee of Indian Council for Cultural Relations
  Indian Council for Cultural Relations
  The Indian Council for Cultural Relations , is an autonomous organisation of the Government of India, involved in India’s external cultural relations, through cultural exchange with other countries and their peoples...
  
  , 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 (AICUF), 1961; Joint Secretary, Government Law College Students Union, 1963-64.

Membership

• Indian Committee for International Women's Year, 1975
• 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
• Central Youth Advisory Board, 1976–77
• National Children's Board, 1977–78
• National Adult Education Board, 1978–79; (vii) National Committee on Child Labour, 1979
• Governing Council of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations, 1982–84
• Bar Council of India Panel of Eminent Persons for Asia and the Pacific for HRD (ESCAP)
• Governing Council of SID, Rome; and
• Commonwealth Observer Group for Elections in Camaroon; elected to IPU Co-ordinating Committee of Women Parliamentarians, 2000.; Spokesperson, Congress Parliamentary Party

Unique Achievements

• Doctorate of Literature by the University of Mysore, 1989
• UN Expert Group meeting on Women in Decision-making, Vienna, 1987
• National Committee on Child Labor, 1979
• Commonwealth Observer Group for Elections in Cameroon