The newly appointed Union Minister of Human Resource Development, Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, assumed charge of his office in Shastri Bhawan today.On his arrival at the Ministry of HRD in Shastri Bhawan, Shri Pokhriyal was received by Secretary, Higher Education, Shri R. Subramanyam and Secretary, School Education &Literacy Smt. Rina Rayand other senior officers of the Ministry.After assuming charge, Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishankheld a meeting with the senior officers of the Ministry where he was briefed about the key initiatives of the Ministry. Speaking on the occasion, the Minister emphasized on high quality standards in education, designing programs and policies relevant to the ground reality in our country and strengthening the implementation of educational programmes. Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank further said that strengthening the monitoring system and receiving actual feedback from the grass roots will help to achieve the goals of our programmes and policies better. It is not only important to have a vision but also a passion to implement the vision, he added.The sixty year old MP, Dr Pokhriyal hails from PauriGarhwal, Uttarakhand. Currently, he represents the Haridwar Parliamentary constituency in Lok Sabha.
He also represented the 16th Lok Sabha and was member in several Parliamentary Committees during the same. He has also been active in state politics. He was Member, Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly for three terms (1991 - 1992 & 1993-2000). He was the Minister of Development of Uttaranchal in Govt. of Uttar Pradesh (1997 – 1998) and Minister of Culture and Religion, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh (1999 – 2000). He has also beenMinister of several key departments in Government of Uttarakhand and has served as Chief Minister of Uttarakhand (Additional Charge). Dr. Ramesh PokhriyalNishankis a writer of poems, stories and novels and has translated various books in more than 12 Indian and Foreign Languages. He is involved in various research works done on ‘Nishank’ Literature in Indian and Foreign Universities and his writings are included in the curriculum of Indian and Foreign Schools and Universities. He has received Honorary Degree of DFC and D.Litt from International Open University Colombo. He also has Honorary Degree of Ph.D. and D.Litt. from various other Universities. He is also a recipient of “Bharat Gaurav Samman” the highest Literary honour of Mauritius.