Prem Prakash Pandey

Prem Prakash Pandey (born March 8, 1958) is an Indian politician who served as the 2nd Speaker of the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party and was Cabinet Minister in Raman Singh's government. He is one of the architects of Chhattisgarh, which was formed in 2000 after the bifurcation of Madhya Pradesh. As a compliment to his efficiency and grasp on the political aspect, he was chosen for the distinguished post of Speaker of the 2nd Legislative Assembly of Chhattisgarh. He was also a minister in Government of unpartitioned Madhya Pradesh.

Early life
Prem Prakash Pandey was born on March 8, 1958, in Bhurwar, Thana-Bankata, District Deoria, Uttar Pradesh. Mr. Pandey hails from a typical Indian middle-class family. His father was a serviceman at the Bhilai Steel Plant and his mother was a homemaker. He was 11 years younger than the Independent India but was more worried and affected by the growth and political development in India. The gory emergence of Naxalites in the country and in his state had an indelible impact on him. Many other local and national occurrences affected him subconsciously and chiselled him, in later years, to actively contribute to nation-building.

Political life
Prem Prakash Pandey began his political career in 1976, when he was pursuing education. One major political crisis that triggered his zeal to serve the nation is when India was reeling under the attack on democracy in the garb of emergency in 1975. He was imbued, especially by Atalji, during this phase. His first step into politics was when he decided to join the Akhil Bharthi Vidhyarthi Parishad. He took this decision when he was only in Class 11. This very well exemplifies his deep conviction and commitment towards serving the public and solving their maladies. In 1976, he officially entered politics at Pandit Ravishankar Shukla University. He gradually moved up the ladder with his grit and determination. In 1990, he won the first election and was entrusted with the charge of Minister of Education, Skill Development, and Technical Education in undivided Madhya Pradesh.

In 1993, he became an Elected member of the Legislative Assembly, and later in 1995, he was elected as an executive member of the BJP Yuva Morcha. A commendable milestone that he earned was being elected as the Speaker of the Chhattisgarh Vidhan Sabha on December 22, 2003.

Initiatives
He is leaving no stone unturned in unleashing progress and development in Bhilai. His activities are receiving support from the people. He wants the youth to be empowered, practice positive developmental politics, and be a conduit of change. His campaigns, such as #BaatBhilaiki, were met with fervour by the locals of Bhilai. He is the only minister in Chhattisgarh to initiate Facebook Live, where people beforehand send their queries, and their complaints are solved in the aftermath. He has exemplified his visionary attribute through his effort to solve the water woes of his constituency and earned the sobriquet "Paaniwala Baba.". He gave a new identity to Bhilai as he got the IIT (the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology) campus in Bhilai. It was the fruit of his persistent effort that Bhilai has become an educational hub. Akin to this, he is contemplating many other strategies to make Bhilai a smart city as well as a city that achieves sustainable growth.

"Swacchata Utsav"
He also gave vigour to the "Swachh Bharat Abhiyan" campaign in Bhilai to inculcate behavioural change and to keep the environment clean. Prem Prakash Pandey being the MLA of Bhilai constituency has started (on 28 August 2016) an initiative named "Swacchhata Utsav" under which he visits a part of the constituency every Sunday in the morning with a group of followers and volunteers, where Prem Prakash Pandey and volunteers clean the streets (though symbolically) to spread the message of cleanliness. The idea is to spread the word of "Swachh Bharat Abhiyan" started by nation's prime minister Shri Narendra Modi. It has now become a big 34 weeks long campaign which contributed significantly in improving Bhilai's cleanliness index.