Shri Ram Naik was the Cabinet Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas in the Government led by Shri
Atal Bihari Vajpayee from October 1999 to May 2004. After creation of a separate Ministry for
Petroleum & Natural Gas in 1963, he has been the longest serving Minister in this Ministry. In the
earlier Cabinet, he was Minister of State for Railways (Independent Charge), Home Affairs, Planning &
Programme Implementation and Parliamentary Affairs, a record number of Ministries indeed at one
time !

When Shri Naik took over as a Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas in October 1999, the waiting list
of LPG for domestic cooking purposes was 1 crore 10 lakh. During his tenure he not only liquidated the
waiting list but also gave 3 crore 50 lakh new connections against 3 crore 37 lakh connections in
previous 40 years. He also introduced 5 kg cylinders to cater to the needs of families in lower income
group in hilly regions as well as urban slums. He planned many programmes to overcome dependence
on import of crude oil and also started their implementation. Important among them was production of
ethanol as a by-product in sugar factories, which would be blended with petrol to be used as transport
fuel. The Petroleum Ministry also allotted Petrol Pumps and LPG Distributorships to
widows/dependents of Defence Personnel who laid down their lives in Kargil war. Brave women and
men of those security personnel who lost their lives in protecting Parliament House from attack by
infiltrators in December 2001 were also awarded Petrol Pumps for their supreme sacrifice.

Shri Ram Naik is known as a friend of commuters. He started organising suburban commuters by
founding 'Goregaon Pravasi Sangh' in 1964. A commuter activist turned into Minister of State for
Railways in 1998, he got established the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation for providing better facilities
to 65 lakh commuters who travel in the world's most over-crowded suburban trains in Mumbai. He was
instrumental in starting 'Special Ladies Local Trains' in Mumbai for the first time in the world.
Extension of suburban section of Western Railway upto Dahanu, 12 coach rakes, computerized
reservation centres at various places, quadruplicating of railway lines from Borivli to Virar and 6 tracks
of railway line from Kurla to Kalyan are a few of the important works in the city for which Shri Naik
was instrumental. The innovative idea of inviting commuters' suggestions for naming new trains is a
brain-child of Shri Naik. He organised Commuters' Conferences in 2005 and 2007 to highlight the
problems of commuters. He was also instrumental in providing relief to commuters affected in bombblasts of suburban trains on 11th July 2006. To protest against the insensitive approach of the Railways for the commuters' demand for providing Virar locals every five minutes, he led the innovative and totally successful boycott agitation of suburban commuters between Borivli and Virar on 10th
December 2007, the world human rights day.

Shri Ram Naik who represented North Mumbai Lok Sabha Constituency from Maharashtra as a BJP
MP has a track record of getting elected successively for five times. Earlier he got elected as an MLA
for three consecutive terms from Borivli Assembly Constituency, which is a part of his Parliamentary
Constituency. In the elections for the 13th Lok Sabha, he secured 5,17,941 votes, which were the
highest votes secured by an M.P. in Maharashtra. He created a new record of getting elected
successively eight times from Mumbai. He used to present his Performance Report to the voters as
people's representative to uphold the principle of accountability. Morever he would be the only
politician who submits his Performance Report to the people even after the defeat.

Shri Ram Naik, a seasoned Parliamentarian was the Chairman of the prestigious Public Accounts
Committee in 1995-96. He was the Chief Whip of BJP in the 11th Lok Sabha. He also contributed
significantly in the Parliamentary debates as well as in important committees like Joint Parliamentary
Committees for Security Scam and Empowerment of Women, Railway Convention Committee. He was
also a member of the Chairman's Panel to preside over the Lok Sabha proceedings.

Shri Naik has been instrumental in singing 'Vande Mataram' in the Parliament. He successfully
prevailed upon the Government to change the name 'Bombay' in English and 'Bambai' in Hindi to its
original Marathi name 'Mumbai'. It is his brain-child, which made available Rs.1 crore annually to each
Member of Parliament for need based small development projects in his constituency. This amount
was increased to Rs. 2 crore during his tenure as Minister of State for Planning & Programme
Implementation. He introduced, in the capacity of a Private Member, a Bill for 'Promotion of Breast
Feeding and Ban on Advertisements of Baby Foods'. The Bill was subsequently adopted by the
Government and became an Act.

Born on 16th April 1934, at Sangli in Maharashtra, Shri Ram Naik had his early school education in
Bhawani Vidyalaya at Atpadi in Sangli District and college education in Pune for B.Com and Mumbai
for LL.B. After obtaining Degree in Commerce he started his career in the Accountant General's Office,
Mumbai as an Upper Division Clerk. While serving, he secured law degree by joining a night college.
In due course he rose to higher posts and also worked as a Company Secretary and Management
Consultant till 1969. He has been a R.S.S. Swayamsevak from his childhood and has completed two
years' course of R.S.S. training. While in Pune in college days, he was 'Mukhya Shikshak' of
Vaidikashram Shakha and in Mumbai, 'Mukhya Shikshak' of Azad Maidan Shakha and also Sidharth
Nagar, Goregaon Shakha.

On the organizational wing of the political party, he started as a grass-root worker of the erstwhile
Bharatiya Jana Sangh. In 1969, he resigned from the service to work as the Organising Secretary of
Mumbai unit of Bharatiya Jana Sangh. He continued to work in that capacity for eight years. He was
also President of BJP Mumbai unit for three terms. Presently he is a Special Invitee of National
Executive Committee. He is also the National Convener of 'MPs - MLAs Development Cell' specially
constituted to enhance efficiency and performance of BJP M.P.s & M.L.A.s.

Shri Naik is presently pleading for rehabilitation of project affected persons of Tarapur Atomic Power
Project III and IV in Mumbai High Court. The long awited justice is on way. Shri Naik has also written
a book 'Saga of Struggle' which narrates the case. The book is translated version of his original Marathi
book '. With Shri Naik's initiative, a petition was submitted to the Rajya Sabha on 5th
December 2007 for empowerment and rehabilitation of the leprosy affected families. The Committee on
Petitions have submitted their report to the Rajya Sabha on 24th Octpber 2008. As per parliamentary
practice, the Government of India have to implement their recommendations within six months.
However it has not been done so far.

Shri Naik, a winner of eight elections, has also won over the serious disease of Cancer in 1994. He
now devotes full time for the Party and also the social work stating that in recovery from Cancer, he
has got the 'bonus' of his life and that he will utilize it in the Service of the Nation. Shri Naik is a
unique personality, known for his awareness and his eye for the details. He is respected for his
honesty, wide networking and public contact, as also his remarkable competence.

After completion of 75 years, 'Ram Naik Amrit Mahotsav Samiti' was constituted under the
Chairmanship of senior BJP leader Smt. Jaywantiben Mehta. The all - party felicitation function held on
28 March 2010 at Borivli, Mumbai was addressed by S/shri L. K. Advani, Nitin Gadkari, Uddhav
Thackery, Gopinath Munde, Madhukar Pichad, Ramdas Athawale, Gopal Shetty and Smt. Shraddha
Jadhav, Mayor of Mumbai. A commenorative volume 'Karmayoddha - Ram Naik' was also released and
is available on website www.ramnaik.com.