Raman Singh Biography

Dr Raman Singh became the second Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh , one of India’s newest states on 7th Dec 2003 and was sworn for his second term on 12th December 2008. Before that he has also served as a Union Minister in the BJP government.

He belongs to the Bhartiya Janata Party and successfully spearheaded the party’s victory in the Assembly elections in the state in 2008. BJP won 50 seats in the 90 member house.

He has used his clean image to push reforms in the State, reduce corruption, manage fiscal policy, and implement welfare programmes for the scheduled castes and Scheduled tribes. The Government of Chattisgarh, had funded Salwa Judum (a militia organized by leader of opposition Mahendra Karna of Congress) in year 2006, to counter Naxalites in the state. However, after the Supreme Court ruling in 2011 the Chief Minister banned the outfit.

The mineral and natural resource rich state has become conducive to industry investments and is now buzzing with industrial activities. In 2006 it topped the IEM (Industrial Entrepreneurship memorandum) released by the Ministry of Industries of the Union Government. It attracted an investment of Rs 1, 07, 899 Crore in 2006.

He has chaired the Chattisgarh Infotech and Biotech Society (CHIPS), set up as a prime mover for information technology in the state. E-governance in the state, offering all the citizens services in the state, was developed as a project under CHOICE ( Chattisgarh On-line Information for Citizens Empowerment). The State got the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) award in 2007 for using information technology for the betterment of its citizens.

Background
He was born on October 15 1952 in Kawardha Chattisgarh and comes from a farming family. He is a doctor of Ayurveda and has a degree in BAMS (Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine). He joined the Bharitiya Jan Sangh during his student years.

He is married to Mrs Veena Singh and they have two children; a son Abhishek Singh and a daughter Asmita Singh.

Political Career
He was elected to the Madhya Pradesh Legislative assembly in 1990 and reelected in 1993.

In 1999 he was elected to the 13th Lok Sabha from Rajnandgaon constituency and inducted into the Cabinet by the Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He served as a Union minister of state for commerce and Industry from 1999 to 2003.

In November 2000, owing to popular demand of the people, Chattisgarh was carved out from Madhya Pradesh and became the 26th State of India. The BJP named Dr Raman Singh as the leader of the party in Chattisgarh and he successfully led the party to victory in the Chattisgarh Legislative Assembly elections in 2003.

In 2004 he was elected member of the Chattisgarh Legislative Assembly. He contested the Assembly elections from Rajnandgaon in 2008 and won. His pro people reforms and anti corruption image helped his party to win in 2008 Assembly elections and he was again sworn in as Chief Minister on December 12, 2008.