Dharmendra Pradhan – Political Life, Age, Education

Hailing from Orissa, Dharmendra Pradhan was considered one of the most eminent politicians in India. Son of the most popular BJP MP Dr Devendra Pradhan, he was born on 26th June 1969. He had served as an Indian politician, minister of development and entrepreneurship, minister of petroleum and natural gas and minister of steel in the government of India. In September 2017, Active participation in Dharmendra Pradhan constituency and was promoted as a cabinet minister. He is currently representing Madhya Pradesh as a member of parliament in Rajya Sabha. he was also a member of Lok Sabha. he was a member of the 14th Lok Sabha. From his college days itself, leadership qualities were visible in him as if he was destined to be a politician. Dharmendra Pradhan twitter id stands as his active participation in social media and other influences.

While studying at Talcher college in Orissa, he became ABVP Activist. He was then a higher secondary student. He later became the president of student in the same Talcher college, Orissa. from Utkal University Bhubaneswar he did his MA in anthropology in 1980. Later he had joined in Bhartiya Janata Party and won Utkal Mani Gopal bandh Pratibha Samman. He was capable enough to win the best legislative award of the Orissa legislative assembly. In 2000 he started his political career. he was part of the Odisha assembly election. He passed the election in 2000. He was selected to a different position as a leader and served BJP wholeheartedly. He was elected from Bihar and Madhya Pradesh as a minister 2 times.

On 3^rd September 2017, he was promoted as the cabinet minister and new represents Madhya Pradesh as a member of parliament in the Rajya Sabha.  When Modi Government got elected in the year 2014, Dharmendra Pradhan was elected as the minister of the state. He took over the independent charge of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. He has visited more than 24 countries as a minister. Participated in many summits of significance along with International programmes. He attended all the important meetings as an Indian delegate. It was a proud moment for a highly dedicated leader like him. He was appointed as the Minister of petroleum and natural gas twice. The second tenure for him occurred during the year 2019. Later he became the minister of Steel.

The Early Life of Dharmendra Pradhan

Born on 26^th June 1969 as the son of Dr Debendra Pradhan. Debendra Pradhan was the Cabinet Minister in the Vajpayee. He was born in the city of Talcher in Odisha. He became an A.B.V.P. activist during his college days. while studying as a higher secondary student in Talcher College (Orissa) he participated in various college elevation programmes and worked for the cause of the people and students. He became the president of the student union of Talcher College. He had many milestones in his political career of Debendra Pradhan. In 1983, he started his political career as an Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activist.

He was elected instantly as the secretary of Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). He did post-graduation in Anthropology from Utkal University, Bhubaneswar. He was elected to the 14th Lok Sabha after serving as the right-hand leader o9f ABVP. He occupied various prestigious positions in the ABVP even from a very early age. He was elected as a member of the Rajya Sabha. He was elected twice from Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. His political career aroused to the peak after having serving many positions throughout his youthful age.

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Political Career as Union minister 2021

Dharmendra Pradhan is known as the longest-serving Ministers for Petroleum and Natural Gas. This is not a simple achievement. He became the first leader to occupy the position twice in the history of independent India. He joined as the Minister of State in 2014. In 2017, he was promoted to the Cabinet rank. Debendra Pradhan had his second consecutive tenure at the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas on 31^st May 2019. His service was quite remarkable as he made many important changes while he was occupying the position.

Known as the Ujjwal Man

Dharmendra Pradhan was popularly known as the “Ujjwal Man”. He was behind the success of Ujjwal Yojana. He was the one who launched Ujjwal Yojana as part of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. This project was part of the ministry of petroleum and Natural Gas under the Government of India. Debendra Pradhan contributed his wholehearted service to this project which greatened over 8 million LPG connections to women from Below Poverty Line (BPL) families. This service was made available for 6 years. The Ujjwal Yojana was part of the large project of making social change through women empowerment possible. Women empowerment was part of this mission. It was the tool and the most effective tool for the inevitable change and Debendra Pradhan made it possible.

Hailed as the “game-changer in ending energy poverty” by Energy agency this was regarded as the greatest achievement in the political career of Debendra Pradhan. IIM Ahmedabad even published a well-acclaimed paper on Ujjwal yojana “Lighting up Lives through Cooking Gas and transforming society “which inspired many.  Ujjwal Yojana contributed a lot to the re-election of the Modi Government in the Lok Sabha election in the year 2019. Debendra Pradhan thus earned a very prestigious position by the success of this project.

Policy Reforms Initiated by Dharmendra Pradhan

• Pradhan has taken the most daring decisions in the hydrocarbon sector.
• He has brought in a new Hydrocarbon Exploration
• He initiated Licensing Policy in the Hydrocarbon sector
• This uniform licensing helped in the explorations and production of all forms of hydrocarbon,
• The licencing also led to the enhancement of open acreage policy and marketing and pricing freedom
• Increase in domestic oil and gas production
• substantial investment in the hydrocarbon sector has tremendously increased in India
• Increased employment opportunity.
• Facilitated employment in the larger section which resulted in the upliftment of the society
• Facilitated the consumer initiatives like PAHAL which is the world’s largest Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme
• Led the Give It Up campaign, supported by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi which aimed at encouraging affluent citizens to surrender their LPG subsidy for the poor people
• Received positive responses from people across India
• Hailed his reformation projects as successful projects

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Energy Transition

Dharmendra Pradhan, as the Petroleum Minister, helped in enhancing India’s energy transition. This initiative led to the balancing of India’s energy demand. The effort played by Dharmendra Pradhan increased India’s commitment to climate change mitigation efforts.  A gas-based economy was created under the leadership of this powerful leader. Invested $60 billion for India’s gas infrastructure. The city gas distribution network was his dream project. He initiated progress in the piped gas network in the country. India’s path of the energy transition has been opened by the efforts put together by Dharmendra Pradhan. This can balance India’s energy demand and decarbonisation efforts put together by the country. Thus, he proved to be the powerful figure who led the country to the inevitable changes.

 Served as the Union Minister of Steel

• Dharmendra Pradhan worked hard to facilitate augmentation of production capacity
• As a minister of steel, he has ensured the growth of the secondary steel sector
• He facilitated jobs opportunities to millions across India
• Helped in value addition
• Played a key role in import substitution
• He contributed to the increase in steel usage in India along with Steel production
• Dharmendra Pradhan was instrumental in launching Iupati Iraida
• Iupati Iraida was a collaborative campaign to involve the stakeholders in the progress
• Debendra Pradhan launched Mission Purvodaya in the steel sector
• He was instrumental in transforming eastern India through the growth of the steel industry
• Debendra Pradhan played a key role in helping India achieving something more valuable than expected
• The growth value has increased by the adoption of new techniques by the ruling section

 Served as the Union Minister of Skill Development

• Debendra Pradhan launched key initiatives focussing on reskilling and upskilling the manpower of India
• He tried to invest more focus on bridging the skill gap for the Indian youth.
• his tenure witnessed the total number of Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) increase by over 40%
• The student enrollment increased by over 28%
• He introduced new paradigms in the regulatory environment
• Stood for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET)
• introduced new-age skills related to Industry 4.0
• launched one of the world’s largest counselling programs named Skill Saatchi.

Political Career

• Entered into the realm of politics as a member of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).
• elected as the President of Talcher College Students’ Union in 1985
• Participated in the students’ movements in the state of Odisha.
• Elected as the national secretary of ABVP
• Became the president of Bhartiya Janata Yuval Morcha from 2004 to 2006.
• participated in campaigns related to reservations based on religion.
• Entered into national politics in the year 2004.
• His father left his seat in 2004 for his son.
• won the Lok Sabha elections of 2004 from the constituency.
• lost the subsequent primary elections.
• he managed to secure the position in the Cabinet.
• his focus was to meet the expectations of the poor and the middle-class people of the country
• He believed that the Indian economy has an important role in the world economy,

Political Journey

• In 1995, elected as the national secretary of ABVP
• From 2004-2009 he became a member of the Odisha legislative assembly
•  elected to Lok Sabha as 14^th member in 2004
• became the President of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha.
• In 2012, he was elected to Rajya Sabha.
• He became a member of the Committee on Government Assurances,
• Became part of Joint Parliamentary Committee
• Played a major part in examining the matters relating to allocation and pricing of telecom licences and spectrum
• Part and parcel of Committee on Rural Development
• Contributed to the Committee on Agriculture.
• He was the party in charge of Tripura, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Odisha.
• He took oath as the Minister of State in May 2014 for Petroleum and Natural Gas

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Positions of Dharmendra Pradhan in a Nutshell

• Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha National President
• Member of Odisha Legislative Assembly
• National Secretary of ABVP
• President, Talcher College Students’ Union
• Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activist
• Member of Parliament
• Member of Parliament
• BJP Bihar in charge
• BJP Karnataka in charge
• Bharatiya Janata Party – All India General Secretary
• Co-In charge – BJP Bihar
• In-charge Bharatiya Janta Yuva Morcha
• In-Charge BJP Jharkhand
• Election in Charge BJP Uttarakhand
• National Secretary Bharatiya Janata Party
• In-charge Chhattisgarh
• Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha)
• Ministry of Education- at present

As a Social Worker

• A great social worker
• Concerned about the problems faced by the youth
• Gave thrust importance to unemployment, growth and technical education
• Worked for the development of backward classes and
• Helped in the rehabilitation of the farmers.
• Created a positive image of politics in the youth
• Became a role model for youth
• Worked for the betterment of our country.
• Books inspired the social work

Family of Dharmendra Pradhan

• born to Debendra Pradhan and Basant Manjari Pradhan in Talcher district of Angul, Odisha
• Born on June 26, 1969.
• Dharmendra Pradhan’s father was a former BJP MP.
• married to Mridula T Pradhan
• He has a son and a daughter.

Political Timeline

Personal Life: In a Glimpse

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