Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs in India
NAME: Hardeep Singh Puri
PROFESSION: Politician
Born: February 15, 1952
Place of birth: Amritsar, India
FATHER’S NAME: Late Shri Bhagat Singh Puri
MOTHER’S NAME: Late Shrimati Kundan Puri
SPOUSE: Shrimati Lakshmi Puri
SIBLINGS: Pradeep Puri (Brother)
CHILDREN: 2 Daughters
EDUCATION: University of Delhi, BA (Hons) History, First Merit in 1971, MA (History) 1973 First Division
POLITICAL AFFILIATION / PARTY: Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP)
OFFICIAL WEBSITE: https://hardeepsinghpuri.com/
REMARKABLE ACHIEVEMENT: Hardeep Singh Puri was Brazil’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to the UN at both Geneva (2002-05) and New York (2009-13). He is one of the few Indians to chair the UN Security Council and the only one to chair a counter-terrorism committee.
AWARDS: N / A
Hardeep Singh Puri is the Minister of Housing and Environment of India and has previously served as President of the United Nations Security Council and Chair of the United Nations Terrorism Committee, Deputy President of the International Peace Institute and Secretary-General of the Independent Commission on Multilateralism in New York. He was born on the 15th of February, 1952.
BACKGROUND: Hardeep served as Joint Secretary to the Government of India at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1994 to 1997 and from 1999 to 2002. He has also been the Joint Secretary to the Government of India in the Ministry of Defense from 1997 to 1999. He also served as Secretary of State for India (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2009 to 2013.
Puri was appointed to senior ambassadors to Brazil, Japan, Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom. Between 1988 and 1991, he was the UNDP / UNCTAD Multilateral Trade Negotiations Project Coordinator to assist developing countries in the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations.
He also served as Chair of the UN Security Council Committee from January 2011 to February 2013, and as President of the United Nations Security Council in August 2011 and November 2012.
UPBRINGING: Hardeep Singh Puri was born in Delhi. His father was a strategist, and he attended a boarding school in India as his father had been sent to countries where there were no English education options.
He received a Bachelor of Arts in History and a Master of Arts in History from Hindu College, University of Delhi. He has worked as a lecturer in history at Stephen’s College, Delhi.
WALK OF LIFE: Hardeep Singh Puri joined the IFS team in 1974 at the age of 22. In a successful career that lasted nearly forty years, he held many key positions including the Indian ambassador to Brazil where he played a key role in expanding India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) cooperation and positions in the United Kingdom, Japan and Sri Lanka.
He was also the Coordinator of the UNCTAD Multilateral Trade Negotiations Project at the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations between 1988 and 1991.
MAJOR INITIATIVES TAKEN: We have partnered with Google to upload more than 58,000 public toilet blocks to more than 2,600 cities on Google Maps. I am pleased to say that approximately 1400 cities today in India are already ODF + certified, and approximately 500 cities have completed ODF ++
CAREER TIMELINE/POSITION HELD
Puri served as joint secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of India, from 1994 to 1997, and then for the second time from 1999 to 2002. He was also the joint secretary of the Ministry of Defense from 1997 to 1999. he later became secretary (economic relations) in the Department of Foreign Affairs from 2009 to 2013.
While working as a diplomat, Puri held key positions in Brazil, Japan, Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom. Between 1988 and 1991, he was the coordinator of the UNDP / UNCTAD Multilateral Trade Negotiations Project to assist developing countries in the Uruguay Multilateral Trade Round. He also served as Chair of the United Nations Security Council on Terrorism from January 2011 to February 2013.
From 2009 to 2013, Puri was India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations. He joined the International Peace Institute as a senior advisor in June 2013.
In January 2014, Puri joined the Baratiya Janata Party (BJP), expressing interest in the party’s view of national security. In May 2019, he became the Minister of State (Independent Payment) for Housing and Urban Affairs and Public Aviation and the Minister of State for Trade and Industry.
CONTROVERSY/CASES: N/A