Mohammad Hamid Ansari Biography

Born on 1st April 1937, Mohammad Hamid Ansari is the 13th and current Vice President of India. He is also the President of the Indian Institute of Public Administration and the chancellor of Punjab University, Chandigarh. In his impressive career of over 45 years, Mr. Ansari has worked in different disciplines in the offices of Government of India.As a seasoned writer, he has also contributed in numerous news dailies and various print media. In 1984, Mr. Hamid Ansari was honored with the Padma Shri Award.

Mr. Hamid Ansari was born in Kolkata while his family ancestry belongs to Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh. He is the grand nephew of former President Dr. Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari of the Indian National Congress. Mr. Ansari completed his schooling from St. Edwards High School in Shimla, attended the St. Xavier’s College, University of Kolkata and pursued M.A. in Political Science at the Aligarh Muslim University. While studying at the Aligarh Muslim University, he was a member of his college’s cricket team and played as the wicketkeeper of the team. After finishing his Master’s degree Mr. Ansari worked as a lecturer in Aligarh Muslim University for two years. He gave a UPSC exam and achieved the 4th rank.

In 1961, Mr. Hamid Ansari started his political career as a civil servant in the Indian Foreign Service. He was a representative of India to the United Nations and Indian High Commissioner to Australia (1985-1989). He also served as an Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (1976-1979), Afghanistan (1989-1990), Iran (1990-1992) and Saudi Arabia (1995-1999). He was also a permanent representative to the United Nations (1993-1995).

From 2000 to 2002, Mr. Hamid Ansari served as a vice-chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University and was also appointed as the Chairman of Petroleum Ministry’s Advisory Committee on Oil Diplomacy for Energy Security from 2004 to 2005. He was appointed as the Chairman of the National Commission for Minorities (2006 – 2007).

In 2006 he also served as Chairman of the “Confidence Building Measures across Segments of Society in the State” and also as a member of the National Security Advisory Board. In 2007, He served as a co-chairman of the India-U.K. Round Table Conference. From 11 August 2007, Mr. Hamid Ansari took office as the Vice President of India and on 7th August 2012 he was re-elected as vice President and is currently holding this post.

Mr. Ansari is well known for his part in ensuring compensation to the Gujarat riots victims and approaching for a complete alteration into the relief and rehabilitation work for the victims since 1984. Numerous articles were written by him on the West Asian Crises and he also edited a book “Iran Today: Twenty Years after the Islamic Revolution”. His article “Alternative Approaches to West Asian Crises”, published in The Hindu on 5th May 2006, focused upon the need for progress in Iraq, Palestine and Iran. Another article “Et EU, India”, published in Outlook on 10th October 2005, points up his skeptical views about India’s vote in the International Atomic Energy Agency on Iran’s nuclear programme.