Ram Shankar Katheria

Ram Shankar Katheria (born 21 September 1964) is an Indian politician and former chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes. He is a member of the 17th Lok Sabha of India representing Etawah constituency of Uttar Pradesh. He represented the Agra constituency of Uttar Pradesh previously. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party.^[2] He was a Minister of State in the Human Resource Development Ministry till 6 July 2016.^[3]

Ram Shankar Katheria
Ram Shankar Katheria in 2018
Chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes
In office 31 May 2017 [1] – 30 May 2020
Preceded by	P. L. Punia
Succeeded by	Vijay Sampla
Minister of State for Human Resource Development
In office 26 May 2014 – 5 July 2016
Prime Minister	Narendra Modi
Preceded by	Shashi Tharoor
Succeeded by	Mahendra Nath Pandey
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office 23 May 2019–June 2024
Preceded by	Ashok Kumar Doharey
Succeeded by	Jitendra Dohre
Constituency	Etawah
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office 16 May 2009 – 23 May 2019
Preceded by	Raj Babbar
Succeeded by	S.P. Singh Baghel
Constituency	Agra
Personal details
Born	(1964-09-21) 21 September 1964 (age 60) Etawah, Uttar Pradesh, India
Citizenship	India
Political party	Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
Spouse	Mridula Katheria ​ (m. 2001)​
Children	3
Residence(s)	Agra and New Delhi[2]
Alma mater	Kanpur University
Profession	Professor, Politician
Committees	Member of four committees[2]

Life

Katheria was born in Nagriya Sarawa village, Etawah, Uttar Pradesh on 21 September 1964 to Sone Lal and Shanti Devi.^[2] He spent his early years at the local Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) unit, which also facilitated his education. He holds PhD from Kanpur University.^[4] He worked as a pracharak of the RSS in Agra for 13 years.^[5]

Before joining politics, he was a Professor of Hindi at the Agra University where he taught Dalit Chetna (Dalit upliftment) and wrote several books on the subject.^[2][5]

On 17 February 2001, he married Mridula Katheri. They have two sons and one daughter.^[2][6]

Political career

Katheria was appointed as a National General-Secretary of the BJP in August 2014 and, in October the same year made in charge of the Chhattisgarh and Punjab states.^[5] In his November cabinet expansion, Narendra Modi inducted Katheria as a Minister of State in the Human Resource Development Ministry,^[3] where he served till 6 July 2016.^[7]

#	From	To	Position
01	2009	2014	Member, 15th Lok Sabha
02	2009	2014	Member, Committee on Urban Development
03	2009	2014	Member, Committee on Papers Laid on the Table
04	2009	2014	Member, Committee on Petitions
05	2009	2014	Member, Consultative Committee on Rural Development
06	2017	2020	Chair, National Commission for Scheduled Castes[8]

Controversies

Katheria has been charged with forging two of his degree mark-sheets (for BA and MA) allegedly to secure a job at the Agra University. The case is being heard in an Agra court. Katheria has also listed 20 other pending cases against him in his election affidavit.^[9]

Publications

Katheria has written four books.^[4]

See also

• India portal

• List of members of the 15th Lok Sabha of India
• Politics of India
• Parliament of India
• Government of India
• Agra (Lok Sabha constituency)