Pramila Malik Makes History as the First Woman Speaker of Odisha Assembly

Biju Janata Dal (BJD) party member Pramila Malik became the first woman Speaker of the Odisha Assembly. The election of Pramila Malik as the Speaker of the Odisha Legislative Assembly  and she was elected unopposed. The post became vacant due to the resignation of Bikram Keshari Arukha in May 2023.

The political background of Pramila Malik

• Pramila Malik has been a six-time MLA from the Binjharpur assembly seat in Jajpur district of Odisha. This seat is reserved for the Scheduled Caste community.
• She initially became an MLA in 1990 as a member of the Janata Dal and later joined the BJD party led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
• Before his role as Speaker, he held the post of Minister of Revenue and Disaster Management in the BJD government.

Notable firsts female in Indian politics

• Amrit Kaur was the first woman cabinet minister of India, responsible for health in the Nehru government from August 16, 1947 to 1957.
• Sarojini Naidu was the first woman Governor of India, serving the United Province (now Uttar Pradesh) from August 15, 1947 to March 2, 1949.
• The first female Chief Minister of India was Sucheta Kripalani, who led Uttar Pradesh from 1963 to 1967.
• Shanno Devi was the first woman Speaker of a state legislative assembly in India, serving in Haryana from December 6, 1966 to March 17, 1967.
• In 1966, Indira Gandhi became the first female Prime Minister of India.
• Pratibha Patil Singh was the first woman President of India, who served from 2007 to 2012.
• Meira Kumar was the first woman Speaker of the Lok Sabha, who held the post from 4 June 2009 to 5 June 2014.

Key takeaways for competitive examination

• Odisha Formation – 1 April 1936
• Odisha Capital – Bhubaneswar
• Odisha Governor – Ganeshi Lal
• Odisha Chief Minister – Naveen Patnaik
• Odisha Rajya Sabha – 10 seats
• Odisha Lok Sabha – 21 seats
• There are a total of 147 seats in Odisha Assembly.