Arjun Ram Meghwal Age, Caste Family, Biography & More

Some Lesser Known Facts About Arjun Ram Meghwal

• Arjun Ram Meghwal is an Indian bureaucrat-turned-politician who became the Minister of State (Independent charge) of Law & Justice, replacing Kiren Rijiju on 18 May 2023. His earlier ministerial portfolios include MoS Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises (2019-2021) and MoS Finance, Corporate Affairs (2016-2017) and MoS Water Resources (2016-2017), Government of India. On 3 September 2017, he became the MoS for Parliamentary Affairs, Government of India.

• Born into a family of traditional weavers, Meghwal spent his children in Kismidesar Village in Bikaner weaving with his parents. In an interview, he talked about the same and said,
  

  I was born in a traditional weaver family of Kismidesar village (Bikaner), where any student of my age hardly goes to school. During my school and college days I used to weave to support my family and my education.”

  

  Arjun Ram Meghwal weaving at a workshop

• He completed his primary schooling at a government school in his village.

• Meghwal was in Class 8 when got married to Pana Devi and continued his studies after marriage.

• He started preparing for competitive examinations after completing his formal education. At the same time, he secured a job as a telephone operator in the Indian Post and Telegraph Department.

• He cleared the written examination on the first attempt but failed to clear the interview round for Rajasthan Administrative Services (RAS).

• He passed the RAS  examinations on his second attempt in 1982.

• He was appointed as the Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to the Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan Hari Shankar Bhabhra in 1994.

• He also fought and won the elections for the post of General Secretary of Telephone Traffic.

• In 1994, he also became the State President of Rajasthan Udhyog Seva Parishad. Later, he was appointed as Additional Collector (Development) in Barmer. Then, he won the election for General Secretary for Dr Ambedkar Memorial Welfare Society, Rajasthan.

• After serving in numerous capacities in the state service, he was promoted as an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer in 1999.

• He served in various capacities in the Rajasthan Cadre as an IAS officer including the District Magistrate (Collector) of Churu, Rajasthan.

• Meghwal took voluntary retirement from the administrative services ahead of the 2009 Lok Sabha polls and plunged into politics as a member of the BJP.

• As an MP, Meghwal often rode a bicycle to the Parliament wearing his trademark Rajasthani outfit, a turban, kurta-pyjama, and a sleeveless jacket, with an aim to exhibit his Bikaneri identity.
  

  A picture of Meghwal riding a cycle outside parliament in his trademark Rajasthani outfit

• In 2013, Meghwal called Lok Sabha’s attention to his proposed legislation, a private member bill against the Delhi High Court judgment of 2009 which termed section 377 of the Indian Penal Code unconstitutional and decriminalised gay sex. While talking to the media about his anti-homosexuality bill, he said,
  

  The main point of my bill is that the honourable Delhi High Court’s decision is not in accordance with Indian culture.”

• In 2014, Meghwal caught public attention for highlighting that Robert Vadra, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law, had allegedly undertaken illegal land deals in Bikaner.

• In 2016, he was appointed to PM Narendra Modi’s Council of Ministers. BJP’s move was perceived as an attempt to balance the caste equations as the party had dropped Nihal Chand Meghwal from the council. Nihal Chand Meghwal, the Ganganagar MP and MoS in the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, who also belongs to the SC community like Meghwal was dropped by the party as he was accused in a 2011 rape case.
  

  A picture of Arjun Ram Meghwal along with PM Narendra Modi

• BJP veteran and seven-time MLA Devi Singh Bhati submitted his resignation over giving a ticket to Arjun Ram Meghwal to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from the Bikaner seat. Bhati accused Meghwal of being an “agent of the Congress”. He said he will continue as a member of the BJP if Meghwal was denied a ticket from Bikaner. Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Meghwal also faced competition from within his family when INC fielded his cousin Madan Gopal Meghwal from the Bikaner seat,  the constituency from where Meghwal was contesting the elections. Madan Gopal Meghwal is a former IPS officer, who also took voluntary retirement to venture into politics as a member of the INC.

• As MoS, Ministry of Culture, Meghwal pitched for declaring the Mangarh hillock in Rajasthan as a monument of national importance saying that “the unsung heroes of the Mangarh hillock massacre have not received the importance in history they deserved.”  On 17 November 1913, the British forces opened fire on 1,500 Bhil tribal freedom fighters gathered at Mangarh hillock who were holding a meeting in protest, led by a leader from the community Govind Guru.
  

  Union MoS for Parliamentary Affairs and Culture Arjun Ram Meghwal receiving a report on declaring ‘Mangarh hillock’ as a monument of National Importance by the Chairman of National Monuments Authority (NMA) Tarun Vijay, in New Delhi

•  The BJP MP is also known for occasionally singing spiritual bhajans at various events. He was also seen singing on the 100th episode of PM Modi’s Mann ki Baat.
  

  Arjun Ram Meghwal singing spiritual bhajans at Hunar Haat Agra