Sheila KaulFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sheila Kaul

Personal details

Born February 7, 1915

Nationality Indian

Political party Indian National Congress

Profession politician, social worker, social reformer, educationist

Sheila Kaul (Hindi, Kashmiri: शी�ला� कौ�ला, Urdu, Kashmiri: کول is a social (born February 7, 1915) (شیال

democratic leader of the Indian National Congress and a former union cabinet minister and

provincial Governor in India. She was also an educationist, social worker, andsocial reformer in the Indian state

of Uttar Pradesh, and an independence activist in British India. She is Jawaharlal Nehru's sister-in-law

and Indira Gandhi 's maternal aunt.

Contents

 [hide]

1 Personal life

2 Political career

o 2.1 Positions Held

3 See also

4 External links

[edit]Personal life

Sheila Kaul belongs to a Kashmiri Pandit family. She has a degree in arts from the Lahore Women's College,

and a degree in teaching from Sir Ganga Ram Training College, Lahore, and was a

State Badminton Champion in the pre-partition Punjab. Kaul has lived

inLucknow, Lahore, Multan, Kanpur, Srinagar, London, Sofia, and New Delhi.

Prof. Kailas Nath Kaul, a renowned botanist, and formerly, a world authority on palms, was Sheila Kaul's

husband. He established theNational Botanical Research Institute (formerly the National Botanical Gardens) in

Lucknow, India. Gautam Kaul, a former Director General of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police and film critic, and

Vikram Kaul, an international sports administrator, President of theCommonwealth Youth Sports Development

Council, and former member of the Asian Cricket Council, are their sons. Deepa Kaul , asocial worker and

former Congress minister, is their daughter. Jawaharlal Nehru was Sheila Kaul's brother-in-law, Indira

Priyadarshini Gandhi was her niece, and Rajiv Gandhi was her grandnephew. Prem Adib, a

1940s Bollywood superstar, was Sheila Kaul's brother-in-law. Among Sheila Kaul's friends were Margaret

Thatcher, Todor Zhivkov , Princess Ileana of Romania, Isobel Hawking, and Adelaide Hawley Cumming.

[edit]Political career

Sheila Kaul's prime electoral constituency was Lucknow, from where she was elected to the Lok Sabha  in

1971, 1980 and 1984. She was, however, also elected in 1989 and 1991 as Member of Parliament from Rae

Bareli, a constituency election whereof has been traditionally contested by a Nehru-Gandhi Family member.

She served as Governor of Himachal Pradesh from November 1995 to April 1996.

A chargesheet based on a case of 1996 accused the former Union Urban Development Minister of entering into

a conspiracy with her two personal staff members and over forty other individuals for allegedly renting out

government shops for a consideration. The CBI, however, did not seize any assets disproportionate to her

income. An assessment of her assets showed no evidence of corruption.

[edit]Positions Held

1982–89: Minister of State for Culture, Education and Social Welfare (Independent Charge)

1980s: President of the Indian National Commission for Cooperation with the UNESCO

1991–95: Union Minister for Urban Development

1995: Union Minister for Urban Affairs and Employment

1995–96: Governor of Himachal Pradesh

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