About
Arjun Ram Meghwal

Personal profile

Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal was born on 20 December 1953 in the village of Kishmidesar in the Bikaner district of Rajasthan, to Shri Lakhu Ram Meghwal and Smt. Heera Devi. He belongs to the Scheduled Castes and has spent his public life in and around the district in which he was born. He is married to Smt. Pana Devi; the official record lists the marriage as solemnised on 12 May 1968, and records two sons and two daughters.

The parliamentary record lists his main profession as social worker, and additionally records him as an educationist and a weaver — the last a reference to the handloom tradition of his community and region. These are the descriptions he has entered in the official register, and they are reproduced here as recorded.

Birth and background

Kishmidesar lies in a landscape of sand and scrub in the Thar Desert, in a district where settlement has historically followed water. The district and the constituency he now represents are the same ground on which he grew up, and the continuity between the two is one of the plainest facts of his public career: he has stood for the Bikaner seat at four consecutive general elections and has never represented another constituency.

Education

He was educated at Sri Dungar College in Bikaner, one of the oldest colleges in western Rajasthan, where he took a law degree and a post-graduate degree in Political Science. He subsequently obtained a Master of Business Administration from the University of the Philippines. The combination is unusual and consequential: a legal training, a training in the study of government, and a training in administration and management, acquired before and during a career in the public service.

Section 03 — Early Life & Education

Professional identity

Beyond office, the official record notes a body of published and edited work. He is recorded as Chief Editor of a volume on religious, social and cultural organisations, and is associated with the titles Jan Sewa Me Arjun Ram Meghwal, Ek Safar Hum Safar Ke Sath, Divya Path Damptya Ka, and a work on the Citizenship Amendment Act. The record also lists his interests as spiritual and devotional singing, storytelling, walking, yoga and pranayama; his stated recreations as visiting places of religious and spiritual significance, writing and reading, and interaction with young people; and badminton as his sport.

Administrative experience

Before entering electoral politics he was an officer of the Indian Administrative Service. The Digital Sansad biography records that he “served as IAS officer in the various capacities in Rajasthan Cadre”, and the Press Information Bureau describes him as a retired IAS officer from Rajasthan. The official profile does not itemise individual postings, districts or dates of service, and this record does not supply any.

Section 04 — Administrative Career

Parliamentary experience

He was first elected to the Lok Sabha from Bikaner (SC) in 2009 and has been returned at every subsequent general election — in 2014, 2019 and 2024. He is a sitting Member of the 18th Lok Sabha.

The official record lists a number of parliamentary and institutional memberships: the Executive Committee of the Indian Parliamentary Group from 22 February 2010; the India–Canada and India–Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Groups (2010–2014) and the India–Romania Parliamentary Friendship Group (2011–2014); the General Council of the National Institute of Rural Development; and the Governing Council of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan from 11 October 2013. He is also recorded as Co-Chairman of the Committee on Reservation in Judiciary under the National Commission for Scheduled Castes between 2011 and 2014.

Section 05 — Parliamentary Journey

Ministerial responsibilities

He has held office in the Union Council of Ministers since 2016. According to the Press Information Bureau, he served as Union Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs (2016–2017); for Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation and Parliamentary Affairs (2017–2019); for Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises and Parliamentary Affairs (2019–2021); for Culture and Parliamentary Affairs (2021–2023); and as Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Law and Justice together with Culture and Parliamentary Affairs (2023–2024).

He took charge at the Ministry of Law and Justice on 11 June 2024 following the formation of the present Council of Ministers. Government of India releases issued through 2026 describe him as Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Law and Justice and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs.

Section 06 — Ministerial Role

Public life

The official biography records several long-running public interests. It notes his participation in programmes for the development of the Rajasthani language and cooperation, in various capacities, towards its recognition in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. It records that he initiated debate and discussion on the abolition of manual scavenging in the 15th Lok Sabha and that the matter was raised by him for the first time through a Calling Attention motion. It further records that he initiated debate on permitting advocates to argue in Hindi in the High Courts and the Supreme Court of India.

He is recorded as Principal Advisor of the Bhwana Meghwal Memorial Trust, described in the official record as committed to supporting talented and economically deprived students through scholarships and guidance, and as conducting group marriage programmes for weaker sections and seminars and workshops on social issues.

The Press Information Bureau notes that he is known for commuting to Parliament by bicycle, and records that he has received the Sansad Ratna award three times and the Sansad Maharatna award.