Son of Late Smt. Kamla Devi & Late Shri Beli Ram; born on 8^th May, 1944 at Village Dhan, Tehsil Jawali, Distt Kangra; M.A., M.Ed. and L.L.B.; educated at Punjab University, Chandigarh and H.P. University, Shimla; married to Smt.Krishna Devi; one son and one daughter; Agriculturist,Teacher and Social & Political Worker .

                Held various positions in the State Congress Committee i.e. Treasurer, General Secretary, Vice President, Working President and Member, All India Congress Committee. 

             Elected to the State Legislative Assembly in 1982; re-elected in 1985, 1993,1998 and 2003; Vice Chairman, HRTC, 1982-1985; Deputy Minister, Health, Higher Education and Public Relations,14^th April 1984 - March,1985; Minister of State for Forest (Independent charge), March 1985 - 1989; Minister of State for Agriculture, Art Language & Culture and Fisheries (Independent charge), 1989-1990;  Cabinet Minister for Irrigation, Public Health, Science & Technology and Technical Education 13^th December, 1993 - 1998; MPP & Power Minister, March, 1998; and Forest Minister (Cabinet Rank) 6^th March, 2003-31^st May, 2004.

            Elected to Lok Sabha (14^th) in 2004; and Member: i) Committee on Estimates, ii) Committee on Energy, iii) Committee on Official Language, iv) Committee on Tourism, and v) Indian Wild Life Board.

            Elected to the State Assembly (6^th term) in December 2022; appointed Pro-tem Speaker on 14^th December 2022; and inducted into Council of Minister as Agriculture Minister along with portfolio of Animal Husbandry on 8^th  January, 2023.

Favourite Pastime: Reading books on literature.

Special Interest: Forest, environment, ecology and education.

Social & Cultural Activities: Upliftment of the downtrodden and village development; redressal of public grievances in far-flung areas of the State; improvement and conservation of environment & ecology by initiating mass plantation drive at Bhatta Kuffer, Shimla.

Book Published: Articles on land use planning, forest & environment.

Travels Abroad: U.K., Norway, Finland, Sweden, France, Switzerland and Germany.

Other information: Actively involved in the policy document of Himalayan Sustained Development of Ecology and Forestry  Authority; Water-shed programme in the Himalayan State including Handpump Technology for driving water supply; Joint Convener, National Convention on Education; taught in St. Bede's College, Shimla Himachal Pradesh; initiated reform measures for the improvement of higher and technical education in Himachal Pradesh.