Margaret Alva

Margaret ALVA is the secretary general of the Indian National Congress, the oldest political party in India, and a close adviser to the president of the Indian National Congress, Sonia Gandhi. A former five-term member of the Indian parliament from 1974 to 2004, she has also been appointed as advisor to the Bureau of Parliamentary Studies and Training, a body set up to improve the standards of legislative functions in the National Parliament and State Assemblies. She has spearheaded four major legislative amendments passed by the Indian parliament involving women's rights, marriage laws, equal remuneration and the reservation of quotas for women in local politics. Ms. Alva also helped draft the blueprint for policies ensuring the empowerment of women, which has been adopted by India's central and state governments. In 2003, she was honored by President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa for playing an important role in garnering support for the people of South Africa during their struggle for freedom and against apartheid. Ms. Alva is a former Minister of Human Resource Development under the government of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, which was responsible for harnessing and promoting the potential of India's massive population. A lawyer by profession, she was conferred an honorary doctorate in literature by the University of Mysore, Karnataka, India.