New Delhi: Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Ajay Maken, 60, announced Friday his completion of a postgraduate diploma in applied statistics, with a specialisation in data analytics from the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) in Kolkata. Maken, who is the Congress treasurer, and has served as minister for multiple ministries from 2006 to 2013, restarted his academic journey during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“My political journey began at 19, in 1982, as a BSc (Chemistry Hons.) student at Hans Raj College. I joined the Indian National Congress as NSUI’s Campus Unit President in 1983, and after Lalit Maken Ji’s tragic assassination in 1985, I committed to full-time politics,” Maken wrote on X.
“In 2020, while COVID disrupted lives, it gave me time to reflect and pursue my academic interests. I returned to learning through platforms like Khan Academy, 3Blue1Brown, Coursera, DeepLearning.AI, EdX, and DataCamp,” the veteran leader added.
This week, at 60, I achieved a personal milestone I’m excited to share. I’ve successfully completed the Post Graduate Diploma in Applied Statistics, specializing in Data Analytics, from Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) Kolkata. @ISIKolkata
It wasn’t an easy journey, but it… pic.twitter.com/rCjEX7o4Y2
— Ajay Maken (@ajaymaken) September 20, 2024
He also wrote that he believes statistics, sampling, data analytics and machine learning are a part of the “modern political tools” and armed with his completed education, he wants to bring “more meaningful contribution in the realm of politics.”
Maken’s political journey
Maken is a three-time MP—elected twice to the Lok Sabha from the New Delhi constituency and currently a Rajya Sabha member. He was also a member of the Delhi Legislative Assembly from 1993 to 2004, and a former Congress general secretary.
Maken has served as the Union Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (2012-13) in the UPA-2 government, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs and Sports (2011-12) and Minister of State for Home Affairs (2009-11), among other posts.
His uncle, Lalit Maken, was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1984 from South Delhi, before being assassinated in 1985 at the age of 33. Harjinder Singh Jinda, Sukhdev Singh Sukha and Ranjit Singh Gill shot Lalit Maken for his alleged involvement in the anti-Sikh riots in 1984, after the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
(Edited by Radifah Kabir)
Also Read: Interim relief for Congress from tax tribunal after party claims bank accounts ‘frozen by I-T dept’
It is nice to know that he has a mind for numbers. Hope he sees how socialism trade marked by the Congress has hurt India be going through statistical data.