Kumari Selja has served as India's Minister of Culture since January 19, 2011. On May 31, 2009, she was appointed Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, a portfolio she holds concurrently.
As a member Indian National Congress, she is also part of the 15th LokSabah, the Indian Parliament's lower house.
Selja was born on September 24, 1962 in Chandigarh to the Dalit leader, Chaudhary Dalbir Singh, a Member of Parliament who served as the Union Minister for several years. After completing her studies at New Delhi's Convent of Jesus and Mary School, she graduated from Punjab University with a Masters in Philosophy.
Selja became politicly active in college, but her career really took off when she became President of the Mahila Congress in 1990, making her a leading Dalit in leader the Congress party.
In 1991, she contested the General Elections for Haryana's Sirsa constituency and won a seat in the Parliament (the 10th Lok Sabha). A month later, she also became a member of the Executive Committee of the Congress Parliamentary Party, until 1994.
In January 1992, Selja was appointed Union Deputy Minister for Education and Culture and Minister of State of Human Resources and Development. She held the two positions until March 1996. That same year, she managed to be reelected to the 11th Lok Sabha, despite the Congress debacle in Haryana. She also returned to the Executive Committee of the Congress Parliamentary Party and was chosen to be the Secretary and spokesperson of the All India Congress Committee.
In 2004, she was elected for a third term to the 14th LokSabha, this time to represent Haryana's Ambal constituency. She was also appointed Union Minister of State of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation under Manmohan Singh-led UPA 1 government, where she gained renown for attempting to solve India's urban housing problems.
In 2007, Selja was unanimously elected President of the 21st Governing Council of the UN-Habitat in 2007, the second time Indian won election.
In 2009, she was re-elected to the same constituency for the second time in a row. She was also elevated to the rank of Cabinet Minister, holding the portfolios of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Tourism.
In 2011, she left the Ministry of Tourism for Culture.
