Chairman National commission of SC/ST Suraj Bhan dies

ew Delhi, Aug 6 (UNI) Senior BJP leader and Chairman of the National Commission for SC/STs Suraj Bhan died at All India Institute of Medical Sciences here this evening following multiple organ failure, hospital sources said.

Dr Bhan, who had been admitted to the CTVS ICU of the AIIMS on August 4 with multiple problems, died at 1815 hours, the sources said.

Dr Bhan, who was 78, leaves behind his widow Chameli Devi, three sons and four daughters.

Born in Yamuna Nagar in Haryana in October, 1928, Dr Bhan received his education in law from the Punjab and Kurukshetra university. He has been associated with the BJP since 1960 when he joined as member of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh.

Subsequently, he held several posts in the BJP, including president of All India SC wing of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, member of the committee on welfare of SCs and STs, All India working committee member.

During his long political career, he also held several prestigious positions like chairman of the JPC on revision of list of SC/ST, member of the public accounts committee, Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha and, recently, chairman of the national commission for SC/ST.

He was first elected to the Lok Sabha from Ambala in 1967 and subsequently in 1977, 1980 and 1996, the year in which he was unanimously chosen as the Deputy Speaker.

He was a Union Minister for Agriculture in 1998 in the NDA Government at the Centre under the Prime Ministership of Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Later, Dr Bhan was also nominated as Uttar Pradesh Governor in 1998, a post he held till November 2000. Later, he became the Himachal Pradesh Governor in 2003.

Throughout his life, Dr Bhan worked for the welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. He was the founder president of the Punjab Scheduled Castes Welfare Association and remained its President from 1947 to 1949 and President of the BJP SC and ST Morcha.

UNI AR VA Rs2120