Education Qualifications Of 12 Chief Ministers Of Punjab Till 2022

The election atmosphere in Punjab is heating up. Most of the political parties have put forward their faces for the Chief Minister after winning the elections. Along with these faces, people have started searching for details and more information related to them on the Internet. And the people are also curious to know how educated their new CM would be.

Punjab has so far had 12 chief ministers after the separation of Haryana. Out of these, 7 are simple graduates and 3 are law graduates. There are also two 2 who could not even complete their graduation. At the same time, one left the law studies in the middle.

Out of these 12, current CM Charanjit Singh Channi did MBA after law and is now pursuing a PhD. The first Chief Minister Giani Gurmukh Singh was a teacher. After Giani Zail Singh dropped out of school, he studied Guru Granth Sahib from the Sikh Missionary College.

Education Qualifications Of CMs Of Punjab

1. Giani Gurmukh Singh Musafir: Teacher, Writer And Poet

Gurmukh Singh Musafir became the first Chief Minister after the reorganization of Punjab. His tenure lasted from 1 November 1966 to 8 March 1967. Musafir was also the President of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee in 1949.

  • Awarded with Sahitya Akademi Award and Padma Vibhushan Award.
  • He was Jathedar of Akal Takht from 12 March 1930 to 5 March 1931.
  • Represented Indian writers at the International Conference in Scotland in 1954 and in Tokyo in 1961.

2. Justice Gurnam Singh: Judge Of Punjab High Court

After studying law at Lahore College, he started practicing in Lyallpur. He was a judge of the Punjab High Court from 1950 to 1959. First and twice became Chief Minister of Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab.

  • The first term was from 8 March 1967 to 25 November 1967 and the second from 17 February 1969 to 27 March 1970.
  • Worked as High Commissioner of India in Canberra, Australia.

3. Lachman Singh Gill: Gave Official Status To Punjabi

Apart from becoming the Chief Minister, an undergraduate Lachman Singh Gill was also the Education and Revenue Minister of Punjab. His tenure as Chief Minister lasted from 25 November 1967 to 22 August 1968. Gill was also an executive member of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee in 1960.

  • Did the important work of connecting the villages of Punjab with the town market.
  • On 13 April 1968, Punjabi was made the official language of the state.

4. Parkash Singh Badal: Youngest Chief Minister Of Punjab

Parkash Singh Badal started his political innings from the post of Sarpanch. He was the Chief Minister of Punjab for 5 terms 1970-71, 1977-80, 1997-2002 and two terms together from 2007-2017. He passed his graduation from Christian College, Lahore. He also became the Union Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation in 1977.

  • Badal has the record of becoming the youngest Chief Minister of Punjab.
  • Was given the Padma Vibhushan Award in the year 2015 (he announced its return in support of the farmers’ movement.)
  • The Transfer of Proprietary Rights Bill on SYL was introduced in the Assembly in 2016. On 14 March 2016, the work of breaking the 121 km long canal built in Punjab was done under his rule.

5. Giani Zail Singh: Studied Guru Granth Sahib From Missionary College

Giani Zail Singh read and learned Guru Granth Sahib from Shaheed Sikh Missionary College, Amritsar. After becoming the Chief Minister of Punjab in his political career, he was also the first Sikh President of the country from 1982 to 1987. It was during this time that Operation Blue Star took place. This was followed by the 1984 Sikh riots. His tenure as Chief Minister lasted from 1972 to 1977.

  • Giani Zail Singh started the scheme of giving lifelong pensions to pensioners in Punjab.
  • Brought back the ashes of martyr Udham Singh and weapons of Dasampita Guru Gobind Singh from London.
  • In 1986, the Central Government refused to assent the Post Office Amendment Bill by using the veto as the President. After this, the VP Singh government withdrew the bill in 1990.

6. Darbara Singh: Part Of Quit India Movement

Darbara Singh, who took his education at the Khalsa College in Amritsar, was a part of the Quit India Movement in 1942, 1945, 1946 and also went to jail. He was the Chief Minister from 1980 to 1983. During his tenure, incidents of violence started in Punjab and when his cabinet resigned, President’s rule was imposed in the state on 6th June 1983. After becoming a member of the Rajya Sabha, he also became an observer in many states and he then led the Congress to victory.

  • He was the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee in 1975.
  • In Congress, he was a Rajya Sabha member from 1984 to 1990.

7. Surjit Singh Barnala: Governor Of Many States

Barnala studied Law at Lucknow University in 1946. While there, he also participated in the Quit India Movement in 1942. After the Rajiv-Longowal agreement, he was the Chief Minister of Punjab from 1985 to 1987. In 1997, he contested the election of the Vice President. Apart from this, he was the governor of Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh and Andaman and Nicobar.

  • In 1991, Barnala, who was the governor during the government of Prime Minister Chandrashekhar, refused to recommend the dismissal of the DMK government in Tamil Nadu. When he was transferred to Bihar, he resigned from the post.
  • Barnala was Agriculture Minister in Morarji Desai Government and Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister in Atal Bihari Government.

8. Beant Singh: Strictness Agaisnt Terrorism 

Beant Singh did his BA from Government College Lahore. Due to the death of his father, he had to leave his law studies midway. He was also a great football player in college. In 1960, he started his political journey by becoming the sarpanch of village Bilaspur in Ludhiana district. He became an MLA for the first time in 1969 after contesting as an independent. He was the Chief Minister of Punjab from 1992 to 1995.

  • To strengthen the democratic system in Punjab during a very delicate situation, as soon as the Chief Minister became the Chief Minister, elections to the Co-operative Sabha, Panchayat-Block Committee and Zilla Parishad were conducted.

9. Harcharan Singh Brar: 5 Times MLA

Harcharan Singh Brar, a graduate from Government College Lahore, was a five-time MLA from Muktsar, Giddarbaha, Kotkapura in his political career. After the assassination of Beant Singh, he was the Chief Minister of Punjab from 31 August 1995 to 21 November 1996. He also served as the Minister of Irrigation and Power and Minister of Health and Family Welfare.

  • He was the Governor of Odisha for 8 months in 1977 and Haryana from 1977-79.
  • He is credited with the creation of Moga and Muktsar districts by separating them from Faridkot.

10. Rajinder Kaur Bhattal: The Only Woman CM Of The State

Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, who graduated from Government College, Sangrur, has been the first and only woman Chief Minister of Punjab to date. Her term was from November 1996 to February 1997. In her political career, Bhattal was a Cabinet Minister thrice and served as the President of Punjab Congress twice, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly twice.

  • The credit goes to her for starting the scheme of providing free electricity for irrigation to the small farmers of the state.
  • In January 2004, Captain became the Deputy CM in the government. Due to differences with Amarinder Singh, she remained in the discussion.

11. Captain Amarinder Singh: From Army To Politics

Hailing from the princely state of Patiala, Captain Amarinder Singh served in the Indian Army from 1963 to 1965 after graduation. Due to his friendship with Rajiv, he had joined Congress and left in protest against Operation Blue Star. He was the Chief Minister twice in the Congress government. His first term was from 26 February 2002 to 1 February 2007 and the second from 16 March 2017 to 19 September 2021.

  • He was the President of the Punjab Pradesh Congress three times and was MLA five times.
  • He defeated Arun Jaitley from BJP by 1,02,000 votes from Amritsar in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

12. Charanjit Singh Channi: First Dalit Chief Minister

Charanjit Singh Channi, the first Dalit chief minister of the Jatt dominated state, studied law at Punjab University. After this, he completed his MBA degree from PTU. Presently doing PhD from Panjab University Chandigarh. Channi has been the Chief Minister of Punjab since September 2021.

  • He was also the Minister of Technical Education and Training and the Leader of the Opposition in the House.
  • Announcement to waive electricity bill, reconnect disconnected connections as soon as he became Chief Minister.

Hence, it has been clear that education is an important factor but for politicians it is not that prominent. Many leaders in Indian Politics are undergraduates, graduates or even not educated but thief work for the public is commendable. But education surely makes the diameter of one’s knowledge wider, hence, it’s a cherry on the cake when a politician is doing great for the society and is well educated as well

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