Shripad Naik

Shripad Yesso Naik^[4][5] (born 4 October 1952) is an Indian politician. He was the minister of state for Tourism and Ports, Shipping and Waterways of India in office since 7 July 2021 (in Second Modi ministry). He was the former union minister of state for Health and Family Welfare. He is the member of parliament from North Goa constituency, representing the Bharatiya Janata Party.^[4][5]

Shripad Naik
Naik in October 2014
Union Minister of State for Ministry of Power and New and Renewable Energy
Incumbent
Assumed office 11 June 2024
President	Droupadi Murmu
Prime Minister	Narendra Modi
Minister	Manohar Lal Khattar Minister of Power, Pralhad Joshi Minister of New and Renewable Energy
Minister of State for Ministry of Tourism
In office 7 July 2021 – 5 June 2024
Prime Minister	Narendra Modi
Minister	G. Kishan Reddy
Preceded by	Prahlad Singh Patel
Succeeded by	Suresh Gopi
Minister of State for Ports, Shipping and Waterways
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 July 2021
Prime Minister	Narendra Modi
Minister	Sarbananda Sonowal
Preceded by	Mansukh L. Mandaviya
Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Ministry of AYUSH[1]
In office 9 November 2014 (2014-11-09) – 7 July 2021
Prime Minister	Narendra Modi
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Sarbananda Sonowal (as minister of AYUSH)
Minister of State for Defence
In office 30 May 2019 (2019-05-30) – 7 July 2021
Prime Minister	Narendra Modi
Minister	Rajnath Singh
Preceded by	Subhash Ramrao Bhamre
Succeeded by	Ajay Bhatt
Minister of State (Independent Charge) Culture and Tourism[2]
In office 26 May 2014 (2014-05-26) – 9 November 2014 (2014-11-09)
Prime Minister	Narendra Modi
Preceded by	Chiranjeevi
Succeeded by	Mahesh Sharma
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
Incumbent
Assumed office 1999 (1999)
Preceded by	Ravi Naik
Constituency	North Goa
Member of the Goa Legislative Assembly
In office 1994 (1994) – 1999 (1999)
Preceded by	Ravi Naik
Succeeded by	Sudin Dhavalikar
Constituency	Marcaim
Personal details
Born	(1952-10-04) 4 October 1952 (age 72)[3] Adpai, Goa, Portuguese India
Nationality	Portuguese (until 1961) Indian (from 1961)
Political party	Bharatiya Janata Party
Spouse	Vijaya Naik ​ (died 2021)​
Children	3
Residence(s)	Velha Goa, Goa, India
Occupation	Politician

Early life

Shripad Yesso Naik was born on 4 October 1952 in Adpai, Portuguese Goa.^{[citation needed]}

Political career

Shri Shripad Yesso Naik taking charge as the Minister of State for AYUSH (Independent Charge), in New Delhi on 31 May 2019.

In 1999, Naik was elected to the 13th Lok Sabha from North Goa constituency in Goa. As of 2019, he has held his seat in this constituency winning in 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019 elections. As of 2019, he is a member of the 17th Lok Sabha. In 2014 Lok Sabha Election, he won with a margin of 105,000 votes which is very high for a small state of Goa.^[6][7]

Further, as advised by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the President has appointed Naik as Minister for Culture and Tourism (Independent Charge) in the 16th Lok Sabha.^[8]

Naik was appointed Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India, on 9 November 2014.^[9][10] On 25 March 2016, Naik publicly stated he had access to research which proved that diseases such as cancer could be cured by yoga.^[11] He further stated that his Ministry was a year away from granting an endorsement to such techniques and research.^[12][13] The statement was challenged by medical researchers, scholars and doctors, who advocated caution in claiming a cure to cancer on the basis of unproven and unpublished research with no scientific evidence.^[14]

Naik continued as Minister of State (Independent Charge) for AYUSH and was appointed Minister of State for Defence on 31 May 2019.^[15]

Awards

Naik received the Samaraj Ratna Award on 18 August 2016.^[16][17]

2021 car accident

Naik met with an accident on the evening of 11 January 2021 in Ankola, Karnataka, when his car driver was traveling en route from Yellapur to Gokarna was reported to have lost control at the wheel on the ghat section, causing the car to go turtle into a ditch. Due to the accident, Naik's wife and his personal secretary suffered grievous injuries. Police later confirmed they succumbed to their injuries whilst undergoing treatment to recover them in the hospital.^{[18] [19] [20] [21]}