Shri Purno Agitok Sangma

Leader, Indian Delegation to (i) U.N.I.D.O. Conference, Khartoum, Sudan, 1981; (ii) ESCAP Conference, Bangkok, Thailand, 1984; (iii) International Labour Conference organised by I.L.O., six times; and (iv) Conference of Asia Pacific Labour Ministers (C.A.P.L.M.) at Tehran, Iran, 1993; Leader, Inter Parliamentary Delegation, to (i) 42nd CPA Conference, Kuala Lumpur, 1996; (ii) 96th IPU Conference, Beijing, China, 1996; and also led bilateral Parliamentary Delegations to Australia, Croatia, DPR Korea, Finland, Mongolia, Norway, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, and U.K.; Leader, Indian Parliamentary Delegation to Bulgaria, Mongolia and Thailand, 1997; a member of Commonwealth observer to Zimbabwe Parliamentary Election; Leader of the Commonwealth observer for Presidential Election in Gambia Taken several policy initiatives; as Union Industry Minister, enhanced the production capability of the Cement Industry to the level of self sufficiency; Coal India Ltd. turned into a profit-making enterprise during his tenure as Coal Minister; as Commerce Minister, introduced plantation crops like Tea, Rubber and Cashew of export importance in non-traditional areas of the North-Eastern India; as a Labour Minister initiated social security measures in the liberalization phase of Indian economy; introduced pension scheme for 18 million industrial workers, rationalised wages and introduced employment injury compensation for unorganised labour sector; placed child labour elimination on high national agenda, worked for elimination of discrimination against women; as Information and Broadcasting Minister, worked for liberalised usage of airwaves and investments in the electronic media; as Speaker, guided formation of a Standing Joint Parliamentary Committee on Empowerment of Women and constitution of a Joint Parliamentary Committee for considering the Constitutional (Eighty-first) Amendment Bill seeking to enhance the presence of women in Parliament; also created a group of Parliamentarians to report on Ethics and Standards in Public Life; Chairman, (i) Asia-Pacific Regional Group in the International Labour Conference, 1994-95; (ii) 5th Conference of Labour Ministers of Non-aligned and other Developing Countries, Delhi, 1995; (iii) Specialised Inter-Parliamentary Conference of the I.P.U. on Partnership between Men and Women in Politics, Delhi, 1997; conferred, (i) Michael John Roll of Honour of the Tata Workers’ Union for distinguished contribution to the cause of labour and to the parliamentary system in 1997; (ii) Golden Jubilee Award of the Indian National Trade Union Congress (I.N.T.U.C.) for outstanding contribution to the cause of the working class by Dr. Shanker Dayal Sharma, the then President of India, 1997 ; nominated `Man of the year` by Competition Success Review(CSR-1998); received "Saraswati National Eminence Award" in the category of Public Leadership by the South Indian Education Society, Mumbai in January 2003 In the history of Lok Sabha, He has been the first to be unanimously elected as Speaker, with universal support cutting across all political parties; The first from the opposition to hold the Office of Speaker; and The youngest Speaker, 50 yrs

former speaker of the Lok Sabha (1947-2016)