Rameshwar Oraon

Rameshwar Oraon (born 14 February 1947) is an Indian politician from Jharkhand. He served as the Finance Minister of Jharkhand and was also a member of the 14th Lok Sabha. He represented the Lohardaga constituency of Jharkhand and is a member of the Indian National Congress Party. He is a member of the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly.

Early life and education
Oraon is from Kanke, Jharkhand. He was born in Daltonganj, in the erstwhile Bihar state. He is a retired IPS officer. He completed his doctorate in 1997 at Magadh University, Patna. Earlier, he did his M.A. in economics in 1970 and B.A. Hons in 1967 at Ranchi University, Ranchi.

Career
Oraon is a former Indian Police Service officer of the 1972 batch. He is a recipient of the President's Police medal. He resigned the service in 2004 to contest the general election and won on Congress ticket.

Political career
Oraon was chairperson of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes from 28 October 2010 to 27 October 2013 during his first term, and continued till 26 August 2017 for his second term. He is thus an ex officio member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

Oraon served as the Member of Parliament, 14th Lok Sabha. On 26 August 2019, he was appointed by the Congress, as the new president of Jharkhand State unit. He also served as the Union Minister of State for Tribal affairs in Government of India headed by Manmohan Singh. He won the 2019 Jharkhand Legislative Assembly election from Lohardaga Assembly constituency and became a minister in the Jharkhand government. He defeated Bharatiya Janata Party candidate, Sukhdeo Bhagat.

On 29 December 2019, he was sworn in as the Cabinet Minister in the Government of Jharkhand, headed by Chief Minister Hemant Soren, along with Alamgir Alam and Satyanand Bhokta.

The Enforcement Directorate conducted raids at premises linked to his son in alleged liquor scam in August 2023. The Congress leaders denied the allegations and slammed the BJP government for the searches.

Awards

 * He received President Police Medal during his Police Service.