Indian politician
Manohar Singh Gill (born 14 June 1936) is an Indian bureaucrat, politician, and writer. As bureaucrat, he belonged to the Indian Administrative Service. As politician, he belonged to the Indian National Congress party. He has served as the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports.[1] He represented Punjab in the Rajya Sabha, upper house of the Indian Parliament.
Early life and career
Gill attended St. George's College in Mussoorie, India.[citation needed] In 1958, he joined the Indian Administrative Services and served in administration at various places in different capacities in the undivided Punjab until 1966 when Punjab was trifurcated to carve out separate states of Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. His various postings included as Sub-Divisional Magistrate in Mahendragarh, now in Haryana, Deputy Commissioner of the then Lahaul-Spiti district, now in Himachal Pradesh. He also served as the Agriculture Secretary of Punjab from 1985-1987 under Captain Amarinder Singh who was then the Agriculture Minister of Punjab.[citation needed]
Gill served as the Chief Election Commissioner of India from 1996 to 2001 succeeding T. N. Seshan. His major achievement was introduction of Electronic Voting machines which curbed malpractices to a large extent. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan for his work in this post.[2] At the 300 year anniversary of the Khalsa, he was awarded the "Nishan-e-Khalsa".[3]
In April 2008, Gill was inducted as the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, as a replacement for Mani Shankar Aiyar. After the Congress Party won the 2009 Indian election, he was re-inducted to the same position. Later after a cabinet reshuffle he was dropped from the union cabinet.[citation needed]
In 1972, Gill authored the book Himalayan Wonder: Travels in Lahaul and Spiti, recounting stories from his days as a young IAS officer in the Lahaul-and-Spiti district, then in Punjab.[4] Another book based on that period that he wrote is Tales from the Hills: Lahaul's Enduring Myths and Legends (2014).[5]
