Jitendra Awhad

Jitendra Awhad
Member of Legislative Assembly-Maharashtra , Maharashtra
Constituency	Kalwa & Mumbra
Personal details
Born	5 August 1963 Thane
Citizenship	Indian
Nationality	Indian
Political party	Nationalist Congress Party
Residence	Thane
Occupation	Politician
Religion	Hindu

Jitendra Awhad (Marathi: जितेंद्र आव्हाड) is an MLA of Maharashtra, being a member of the Vidhan Sabha (lower house). He has previously served as Cabinet Minister of Medical Education and Horticulture in the Maharashtra state cabinet. He has also been Working President of the Maharashtra unit of the Nationalist Congress Party, the political party founded by Sharad Pawar, who Awhad considers as his mentor.

Early life

Jitendra Awhad is the son of Satish Awhad and his wife Smt. Lilavati Awhad. He grew up in Thane, a distant suburb of Mumbai, and attended St. John The Baptist High School, Thane. In 1981, he completed his HSC (12th standard board exams) in the Science stream. He then enrolled in B.N.Bandodkar College for a bachelor's degree in Marine Engineering.

While in college, Awhad made his first foray into public service, winning the election for the post of Gymkhana Secretary, thereby taking charge of maintaining sports facilities and organizing sports events at his college. He went on to become the secretary of the All India Students' Organization, a non-political outfit.^[1] In 1982, Awhad successfully launched a campaign against a proposed rise in tuition fees in the college.^[1] Awhad completed his Marine Engineering Studies in 1984-85. He then enrolled for a Master's degree in personnel management.^[1] After completing his master's degree, Awhad worked in Kores India Ltd., a Thane-based private company, as an Assistant Labour Officer from 1988 to 1995. Later, he enrolled for a doctorate in Mumbai University, and successfully completed it in due course. Dr. Jitendra Awhad holds a doctorate from Mumbai University, the thesis being "The History of Socio-Religious Movements in Maharashtra: A Subaltern View"'

Early Non Political Career

1980-82 - He was general secretary of Thane District Youth Congress.

1987 – 1988 – Dr. Awhad was also a representative of the Maharashtra Institute of Labour.

1988-91 - He was the Maharashtra Pradesh National Students Union of India's (NSUI) chief secretary.

1991-93 - He was elected as general secretary of the NSUI, and also from 1991 he is President of the Akhil Bharitya Vanjara Youth Association.

1993 till 1998, he was as president of Thane Municipal Council educational panel.

1996 - Awhad was elected as youth congress president for Maharashtra.^[2]

1999 - After the formation of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Awhad was elected as the first National President of NCP (Youth).

Political career

Feb 2002 – 2008 - After the formation of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Awhad was elected as the first national President of NCP (Youth). From here he entered mainstream politics. He was elected as a Member of the Legislative Council of Maharashtra, and again re-elected as an MLC in March 2008 for a five-year term.^[3]

13 October 2009 - He was elected as a Member of Legislative Assembly of Maharashtra from the Mumbra-Kalwa Constituency.

16 October 2009 - He contested M.L.A Election for the first time.

Since 2002, he holds the post of Senate member of Mumbai University and also District President of NCP-Thane. He also holds the post of President of the Indian Pilots Guild, the union of the airline pilots of Air India. He is the President of Thane District Nationalist Congress Party.^[3]

Sangharsh

He is also credited with popularizing and organizing the festival of Krishna Janmashtami or Dahi Handi, through his NGO Sangharsh.^[4] Every year lakhs of people visit the festival, especially groups of youth from Thane, Mumbai and Navi Mumbai to participate in the festival by forming human pyramids and winning huge prizes. He has also managed to invite Human Pyramid groups from Spain^[5] for this festival and has created world records for the highest pyramids of 9 layers.^[6]...

Achievements

Cabinet Minister - Horticulture, Maharashtra
State horticulture minister, Dr Jitendra Awhad met with Shri Amitabh Bachchan and discussed the chances of him being the brand for state's horticulture to encourage the farmers, promote their produce and ensure quality for consumers. Mr Bachchan agreed to do so and is the ambassador for horticulture in the state.^[7]

Cabinet Minister – Medical Education, Maharashtra
Medical Education Minister, Dr. Jitendra Awhad started an initiative called "Coffee with students" to connect and resolve issues of medical students across the state. In the first month alone, cities like Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Aurangabad, Kolhapur, Nagpur, Dhule, Solapur have been covered and effective measures have been taken to the improve the situations for Students and also staff.^[8]

References

1. "Childhood & Education". http://jeetendraawhad.com/profile.php. External link in |website= (help);
2. "Kesri gives the boot to Jeetendra Awhad". The Indian Express. 11 May 1997. Retrieved 2009-11-08.
3. "Political and Social Life". http://jeetendraawhad.com/political_and_social_life.php. External link in |website= (help);
4. "Sangharsh Dahi Handi Festival". http://jeetendraawhad.com/news_detail.php?newsid=7. External link in |website= (help);
5. "Castellers from Spain raise the bar for local govindas". http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/castellers-from-spain-raise-the-bar-for-local-govindas/1161594/. The Indian Express. Retrieved 26 June 2014. External link in |website= (help)
6. "The pot of gold is heavier this dahi handi". http://jeetendraawhad.com/news_detail.php?newsid=6. External link in |website= (help);
7. "Maharashtra may make Big B fruits ambassador". http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Maharashtra-may-make-Big-B-fruits-ambassador/articleshow/36177376.cms. External link in |website= (help);
8. "Minister to visit CPR today". http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolhapur/Minister-to-visit-CPR-today/articleshow/37537783.cms. External link in |website= (help);