Prakash Javadekar (born 30 January 1951) is an Indian politician of the Bharatiya Janata Party. A long-time party spokesperson, he held three major ministries in Narendra Modi‘s government between 2014 and 2021: Environment, Forest and Climate Change; Human Resource Development; and Information and Broadcasting. He represented India at the Paris climate conference in 2015.
Quick Facts
| Full name | Prakash Keshav Javadekar |
| Born | 30 January 1951, Pune, Maharashtra, India |
| Age | 75 |
| Party | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Offices | Minister for Environment (2014–2016, 2019–2021); Human Resource Development (2016–2019); Information and Broadcasting (2014, 2019–2021) |
| Education | University of Pune (B.Com.) |
| Spouse | Prachee Javadekar |
| Children | 2 sons |
Early Life
Javadekar was born in Pune. His father worked for the Marathi newspaper Kesari, founded by Bal Gangadhar Tilak, and his mother was a teacher. He was active in the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and spent sixteen months in jail during the Emergency, where he underwent heart surgery. He worked for the Bank of Maharashtra for about ten years before entering full-time politics in 1981.
Political Career
He was a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council from 1990 to 2002 and headed the state’s planning board. He became a national spokesperson of the BJP in 2003 and entered the Rajya Sabha in 2008. In May 2014 he was made Minister of State with independent charge of Environment and Information and Broadcasting. As Environment Minister he speeded up project clearances, which environmentalists criticised, and led India’s delegation in the negotiations for the Paris Agreement. Promoted to the cabinet in July 2016, he took over Human Resource Development from Smriti Irani; during his term the “no detention” policy in schools was ended and several universities were declared Institutions of Eminence. He returned to Environment and to Information and Broadcasting in 2019 and left the government in the reshuffle of July 2021. He has since worked as a party organiser, including as its in-charge for Kerala.
Personal Life
He is married to Prachee Javadekar, an educationist, and they have two sons.
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where was Prakash Javadekar born?
Prakash Javadekar was born on 30 January 1951 in Pune, Maharashtra, India and is 75 years old.
Featured image: Prakash Javadekar, then Minister for Human Resource Development, addresses a press conference in Amritsar, 31 May 2018. Photo by Ministry of Education, licensed under Government Open Data License – India, via Wikimedia Commons.
