Born in a poor tribal family on 22 March 1961 at 'Kendudihi' a village in Orissa's Sundargarh district, Jual Oram created history when he became the first union Tribal Affairs minister of India.
One of a brood of two brothers and three sisters, he and his family have lived a life of penury. And that was enough reason for him to think how to uplift poor and he decided to join politics.
Oram, a diploma holder in electrical engineering, worked for five years with BHEL, before he decided to quit and join politics.
A man who worked in the capacity of assistant Foreman, Power Group Construction Division of the company for six years begun his political career in 1990.
he contested the assembly election from Bonai constituency that year and won with a comfortable margin. Since then the graph of his popularity never gone down.
He has held several important posts that include being member of the Orissa Legislative Assembly and several high-profile committees of the union government and in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
He was elected to the 12th Lok Sabha in 1998 and began his assignment as Union Minister for Tribal Affairs on 13th October, 1999 .
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee gave him this assignment creating a new ministry, for the first time in the history of Independent India.
Oram has always been championing the cause of tribal upliftment and welfare of the poorer sections of society.
And for him and his people it was a dream come true. He took several initiatives to uplift downtrodden, weaker section of people particularly tribal visiting extensively across the country.
Oram who is one of two literate children of
his parents.
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