Special Message recorded for the Summit Special Edition 2020

A K Balan

Minister for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes Welfare, Law, Culture and Parliamentary Affairs
Government of Kerala, India

Shri A K Balan, MLA, was born in Kozhikode district (Calicut) in Kerala, Southern India. He was educated at Brennan College, Thalassery, and Law College, Kozhikode, and holds BA and LLB degrees. His interest in politics and public service began through student politics.

He worked as State Secretary and President of the Students Federation of India from 1979 to 1982. He was elected to the Parliament of India in 1980.

Balanwas first elected to the Kerala Legislative Assembly in 2001. He served as the Minister for Electricity of Kerala from 2006 to 2011, with the distinction of becoming the first politician in his country to oversee the provision of electricity to an entire city and municipal district (Palakkad).

Balan was appointed the Minister for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes Welfare, Law, Culture and Parliamentary Affairs of Kerala in 2016. He is a senior official of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU).