Virendra Kumar Khatik was sworn in as the pro-tem speaker of the 17th Lok Sabha today. He was administered the post by President Ram Nath Kovind. He will now oversee the oath-taking of newly-elected Lok Sabha members, until Wednesday, when a new speaker would be elected.
Virendra Kumar Khatik was born on 27 February 1954. Right from the beginning he was associated with the activities of RSS, ABVP, VHP and BJP. He started his carrier with the student wing of Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in Sagar in Madhya Pradesh. He was an RSS worker from childhood and actively participated in the Total Revolution movement started by Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan in 1975. His protest against the imposition of emergency landed him in jails of Sagar and Jabalpur for 16 months under Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA).
He was also a headmaster. He started a movement for solving the problems faced by students and opened library for their assistance. He completed his formal education from Sagar University and went on to achieve a MA (Economics) degree and Ph.D (Child Labour) from Dr. Harisingh Gaur University, Sagar, Madhya Pradesh.
His political stint started in the year 1982. Back in 1996, he was given the party ticket from Sagar Lok Sabha constituency and became a member of the 11th, 12th, 13th & 14th Lok Sabha of India from 1996-2009. After that, he was a member of 15th and 16th Lok Sabha from Tikamgarh constituency in Madhya Pradesh till the year 2017.
He served as the Minister of State in the Ministry of Women and Child Development as well as Ministry of Minority Affairs for a period of two years from September 2017 to May 2019. He was also the Chairperson of Standing Committee on Labour and Member of General Purpose Committee.
He has 1 son and 3 daughters.
Who is a Pro-tem speaker?
An operative person on the chair of the speaker of the Lok Sabha on state Legislative Assemblies, temporarily holding the post called the Pro-tem speaker. He/She has limited powers and is elected to handle the activities of the House. Although on a temporary basis, but he/she enjoys the same position power and privilege and immunities as that of a regular speaker.
With Inputs from india.gov.in and india.com
