New Delhi, Sep 13 (UNI) Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, senior Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader, former Union Minister and architect of most popular social security scheme MGNERA, passed away at All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here on Sunday.
The 74-year-old leader was admitted to the hospital since a week after developing post-Covid-19 complications and was put on a ventilator support.
Known as "MNREGA man", Mr Singh was one of the noted politician of Bihar and popular among all the political parties.
He was the architect of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA),an unique scheme for rural employment in India, launched in 2006 during his tenure as the Union Minister for Rural Development.
The MNREGA was widely appreciated worldwide and helped United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government to retain power in 2009 Lok Sabha elections.
Born in Vaishali on June 6, 1946, Singh began his political career as a secretary of Samyukta Socialist Party. In 1977, he was elected as the member of Bihar Legislative Council from Sitamarhi Assembly segment. He was first elected to Lok Sabha in 1996 and served as Union Minister of State for Animal Husbandry and Dairy.
Singh had been in political wilderness for few years as he lost two consecutive elections in 2014 and 2019 from Vaishali Lok Sabha constituency in Bihar which he had represented in the Lok Sabha a record five times.
Recently he resigned from the primary membership of the party and followed it up with an open letter addressed to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, triggering speculations about his future moves.
President Ram Nath Kovid, expressing grief over the demise, wrote on his official twitter handle, "The passing away of Raghuvansh Prasad Singh is tragic. An outstanding leader rooted to ground, Raghuvansh Babu was a true stalwart with phenomenal understanding of rural India. With his spartan and sagely lifestyle, he enriched public life. Condolences to his family & followers."
Singh is survived by two sons and a daughter.
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