Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
Branch of Government of India
Agency overview
JurisdictionGovernment of India
HeadquartersMinistry of Social Justice and Empowerment
Shastri Bhawan,
C-Wing,
Dr. Rajendra Prasad Road
New Delhi,110011
New Delhi
Annual budget₹6,908 crore (US$870 million) (2017-18 est.)[1]
Ministers responsible
Websitesocialjustice.nic.in

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is a Government of India ministry. It is responsible for welfare, social justice and empowerment of disadvantaged and marginalised sections of society, including scheduled castes (SC), Other Backward Classes (OBC), LGBT people, the disabled, the elderly, and the victims of drug abuse. It also helps in the enforcement of legislation with regards to these marginalized groups to better enforce anti-discrimination policies.[2]

The Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment holds cabinet rank as a member of the Council of Ministers. The current minister is Virendra Kumar, who is assisted by a Minister of State, Rattan Lal Kataria, Krishan Pal Gujjar and Ramdas Athavale.

History

In 1985–1986, the former Ministry of Welfare was divided into the Department of Women and Child Development and the Department of Welfare. At the same time, the Departments of Scheduled Castes Development, Tribal Development, and Minorities and Backward Classes Welfare of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Department of Wakf of the Ministry of Law were separated from those ministry to form the new Ministry of Welfare.

The Ministry of Welfare was renamed as the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in May 1998. In October 1999, the Department of Tribal Development was separated to form the new and independent Ministry of Tribal Affairs. In May 2004 following the formation of the First Manmohan Singh ministry, the Department of Women and Child Development was separated to form an independent ministry to be known as the Ministry of Women and Child Development, while in January 2006, the Departments of Minorities Welfare and the Wakf were separated to form the Ministry of Minority Affairs. To propagate the ideologies and philosophy of Babu Jagjivan Ram, the 'Babu Jagjivan Ram National Foundation', has been set up by the Ministry.[3]

In 2012, the Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment launched Oblindia, an online library for visually impaired college students. At launch, the library included 12,000 books in 10 languages.[4]

Organisation

The ministry has five bureaus, each headed by a Joint Secretary: Scheduled Castes Development Bureau; Backward Classes Bureau Coordination, Media, Administration; Disability Bureau; Social Defense (SD) Bureau; and Project, Research, Evaluation and Monitoring Bureau.

https://dwbdnc.dosje.gov.in/

*Composite Regional Centres for Persons with Disabilities (CRCs)

*Public Private Partnership **Indian Spinal Injury Centre

Legislation

Cabinet Ministers

No. Portrait Minister
(Birth-Death)
Constituency 		Term of office Political party Ministry Prime Minister
From To Period
Minister of Social Security
1 Ram Subhag Singh
(1917–1980)
MP for Bikramganj
(MoS) 		9 June
1964 		13 June
1964 		4 days Indian National Congress Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri
2 Ashoke Kumar Sen
(1913–1996)
MP for Calcutta North West 		13 June
1964 		11 January
1966 		1 year, 212 days
11 January
1966 		24 January
1966 		Nanda II Gulzarilal Nanda
(Acting)
Minister of Social Welfare
3 Kotha Raghuramaiah
(1912–1979)
MP for Guntur
(MoS) 		24 January
1966 		25 March
1966 		60 days Indian National Congress Indira I Indira Gandhi
4 Asoka Mehta
(1911–1984)
Rajya Sabha MP for Maharashtra 		25 March
1966 		13 March
1967 		2 years, 150 days
13 March
1967 		22 August
1968 		Indira II
5 Panampilly Govinda Menon
(1906–1970)
MP for Mukundapuram 		22 August
1968 		23 May
1970 		1 year, 274 days
6 Kengal Hanumanthaiah
(1908–1980)
MP for Bangalore City 		26 May
1970 		18 March
1971 		296 days
7 Siddhartha Shankar Ray
(1920–2010)
MP for Raiganj 		18 March
1971 		20 March
1972 		1 year, 2 days Indian National Congress (R) Indira III
8 Saiyid Nurul Hasan
(1921–1993)
Rajya Sabha MP for Uttar Pradesh
(MoS, I/C) 		24 March
1972 		24 March
1977 		5 years, 0 days
9 Pratap Chandra Chunder
(1919–2008)
MP for Calcutta North East 		24 March
1977 		28 July
1979 		2 years, 126 days Janata Party Desai Morarji Desai
10 Karan Singh
(born 1931)
MP for Udhampur 		28 July
1979 		19 August
1979 		22 days Indian National Congress (Urs) Charan Singh Charan Singh
11 Sathyavani Muthu
(1923–1999)
Rajya Sabha MP for Tamil Nadu 		19 August
1979 		23 December
1979 		126 days All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
12 Shankarrao Chavan
(1920–2004)
MP for Nanded 		19 October
1980 		8 August
1981 		293 days Indian National Congress (I) Indira IV Indira Gandhi
13 Sheila Kaul
(1915–2015)
MP for Lucknow
(MoS, I/C) 		8 August 1981 31 October 1984 3 years, 140 days
4 November 1984 31 December 1984 Rajiv I Rajiv Gandhi
Minister of Women and Social Welfare
14 Maragatham Chandrasekar
(1917–2001)
MP for Sriperumbudur
(MoS, I/C) 		31 December 1984 25 September 1985 268 days Indian National Congress (I) Rajiv II Rajiv Gandhi
15 Rajendra Kumari Bajpai
(1925–1999)
MP for Sitapur
(MoS, I/C) 		25 September
1985 		2 December
1989 		4 years, 68 days
Minister of Welfare
16 Ram Vilas Paswan
(1946–2020)
MP for Hajipur 		6 December
1989 		10 November
1990 		1 year, 4 days Janata Dal V. P. Singh V. P. Singh
– Chandra Shekhar
(1927–2007)
MP for Ballia
(Prime Minister) 		21 November
1990 		21 June
1991 		212 days Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) Chandra Shekhar Chandra Shekhar
17 Sitaram Kesri
(1919–2000)
Rajya Sabha MP for Bihar 		21 June
1991 		16 May
1996 		4 years, 330 days Indian National Congress (I) Rao P. V. Narasimha Rao
18 Kariya Munda
(born 1936)
MP for Khunti 		16 May
1996 		1 June
1996 		16 days Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee I Atal Bihari Vajpayee
19 Balwant Singh Ramoowalia
(born 1942)
Rajya Sabha MP for Uttar Pradesh 		1 June
1996 		21 April
1997 		1 year, 291 days Independent Deve Gowda H. D. Deve Gowda
21 April
1997 		19 March
1998 		Gujral Inder Kumar Gujral
20 Maneka Gandhi
(born 1956)
MP for Pilibhit
(MoS, I/C) 		19 March
1998 		23 May
1998 		65 days Vajpayee II Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment
21 Maneka Gandhi
(born 1956)
MP for Pilibhit
(MoS, I/C) 		23 May
1998 		13 October
1999 		3 years, 101 days Independent Vajpayee II Atal Bihari Vajpayee
13 October
1999 		1 September
2001 		Vajpayee III
22 Satyanarayan Jatiya
(born 1946)
MP for Ujjain 		1 September
2001 		22 May
2004 		2 years, 264 days Bharatiya Janata Party
23 Meira Kumar
(born 1945)
MP for Sasaram 		23 May
2004 		22 May
2009 		4 years, 364 days Indian National Congress Manmohan I Manmohan Singh
24 Mukul Wasnik
(born 1959)
MP for Ramtek 		28 May
2009 		27 October
2012 		3 years, 152 days Manmohan II
26 Selja Kumari
(born 1962)
MP for Ambala 		28 October
2012 		28 January
2014 		1 year, 92 days
27 Mallikarjun Kharge
(born 1941)
MP for Gulbarga 		28 January
2014 		26 May
2014 		118 days
28 Thawar Chand Gehlot
(born 1948)
Rajya Sabha MP for Madhya Pradesh 		27 May
2014 		30 May
2019 		7 years, 41 days Bharatiya Janata Party Modi I Narendra Modi
31 May
2019 		7 July
2021 		Modi II
29 Virendra Kumar Khatik
(born 1954)
MP for Tikamgarh 		7 July
2021 		Incumbent 2 years, 287 days

Ministers of State

No. Portrait Minister
(Birth-Death)
Constituency 		Term of office Political party Ministry Prime Minister
From To Period
Minister of State of Social Security
1 Ramchandra Martand Hajarnavis
(1908–1976)
MP for Bhandara 		29 October
1965 		11 January
1966 		74 days Indian National Congress Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri
Minister of State of Social Welfare
2 Phulrenu Guha
(1912–2006)
Rajya Sabha MP for West Bengal 		13 March
1967 		26 June
1970 		3 years, 105 days Indian National Congress Indira II Indira Gandhi
3 Kotha Raghuramaiah
(1912–1979)
MP for Guntur 		18 March
1967 		14 February
1969 		1 year, 333 days
4 Jagannath Rao
MP for Chatrapur 		27 June
1970 		18 March
1971 		264 days Indian National Congress (R)
5 Saiyid Nurul Hasan
(1921–1993)
Rajya Sabha MP for Uttar Pradesh 		4 October
1971 		24 March
1972 		172 days Indira III
6 Dhanna Singh Gulshan
MP for Bathinda 		14 August
1977 		28 July
1979 		1 year, 348 days Janata Party Desai Morarji Desai
7 Renuka Devi Barkataki
(1932–2017)
MP for Gauhati 		16 August
1977 		28 July
1979 		1 year, 346 days
8 Rashida Haque Choudhury
MP for Silchar 		30 July
1979 		24 August
1979 		25 days Indian National Congress (Urs) Charan Singh Charan Singh
9 Sheila Kaul
(1915–2015)
MP for Lucknow 		19 October
1980 		8 August
1981 		293 days Indian National Congress (I) Indira IV Indira Gandhi
Minister of State for Welfare
10 Aslam Sher Khan
(born 1953)
MP for Betul 		15 September
1995 		16 May
1996 		244 days Indian National Congress (I) Rao P. V. Narasimha Rao
Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment
11 Satyabrata Mookherjee
(1932–2023)
MP for Krishnanagar 		1 July
2002 		29 January
2003 		212 days Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee III Atal Bihari Vajpayee
12 Sanjay Paswan
(born 1962)
MP for Nawada 		29 January
2003 		24 May
2003 		115 days
13 Kailash Chandra Meghwal
(born 1934)
MP for Tonk 		24 May
2003 		22 May
2004 		364 days
14 Nagmani
(born 1953)
MP for Chatra 		24 May
2003 		22 May
2004 		364 days
15 Subbulakshmi Jagadeesan
(born 1947)
MP for Tiruchengode 		23 May
2004 		22 May
2009 		4 years, 364 days Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Manmohan I Manmohan Singh
16 Napoleon
(born 1963)
MP for Perambalur 		28 May
2009 		20 March
2013 		3 years, 296 days Manmohan II
17 Porika Balram Naik
(born 1964)
MP for Mahabubabad 		28 October
2012 		26 May
2014 		1 year, 210 days Indian National Congress
18 Manikrao Hodlya Gavit
(1934–2022)
MP for Nandurbar 		17 June
2013 		26 May
2014 		343 days
19 Sudarshan Bhagat
(born 1969)
MP for Lohardaga 		27 May
2014 		9 November
2014 		166 days Bharatiya Janata Party Modi I Narendra Modi
20 Krishan Pal Gurjar
(born 1957)
MP for Faridabad 		9 November
2014 		30 May
2019 		4 years, 202 days
21 Vijay Sampla
(born 1961)
MP for Hoshiarpur 		9 November
2014 		30 May
2019 		4 years, 202 days
22 Ramdas Athawale
(born 1959)
Rajya Sabha MP for Maharashtra 		5 July
2016 		30 May
2019 		2 years, 329 days Republican Party of India (Athawale)
(20) Krishan Pal Gurjar
(born 1957)
MP for Faridabad 		31 May
2019 		7 July
2021 		2 years, 37 days Bharatiya Janata Party Modi II
(22) Ramdas Athawale
(born 1959)
Rajya Sabha MP for Maharashtra 		31 May
2019 		Incumbent 4 years, 324 days Republican Party of India (Athawale)
23 Rattan Lal Kataria
(1951–2023)
MP for Ambala 		31 May
2019 		7 July
2021 		2 years, 37 days Bharatiya Janata Party
24 A. Narayanaswamy
(born 1957)
MP for Chitradurga 		7 July
2021 		Incumbent 2 years, 287 days
25 Pratima Bhoumik
(born 1969)
MP for Tripura West 		7 July
2021 		Incumbent 2 years, 287 days

See also

References

  1. ^ "Budget data" (PDF). www.indiabudget.gov.in. 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  2. ^ "Subjects Allocated : Department of Social Justice and Empowerment - Government of India". socialjustice.nic.in. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  3. ^ "A brief on Babu Jagjivan Ram National Foundation" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2009.
  4. ^ "India's First Online Braille Library Launched". 5 January 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2019.

External links

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