Syeda Anwara Taimur (24 November 1936 – 28 September 2020) was an Indian politician who was Chief Minister of Assam from 6 December 1980 to 30 June 1981. She was a leader of the Indian National Congress in Assam and a member of the All India Congress Committee (AICC).
Personal life She graduated from Aligarh Muslim University with economics honors.
Anwara was a lecturer in Economics at the Devicharan Barua Girls' College, Jorhat in 1956.
Political career She is the only female and Muslim Chief Minister of Assam in the history of the state. She was Chief Minister of Assam from 6 December 1980 to 30 June 1981. In Indian history also, Syeda Anwara Taimur was the first Muslim woman Chief Minister of any state. Her term as chief minister ended when the state was put under President's rule for six months.
From 1983 to 1985 she was the PWD minister of the same state.
She was an elected member of the Assam Assembly (MLA) in 1972, 1978, 1983, and 1991. In 1988 she was nominated to the Indian Parliament (Rajya Sabha). In 1991 she was appointed to the post of minister for agriculture in Assam.
Anwara joined All India United Democratic Front in 2011. Anwara is among the notable names not included in the final draft of 2018 National Register of Citizens (NRC), for which, she later clarified that her family members may not have applied to get her name included in the list.
Death Taimur died on 28 September 2020 due to cardiac arrest in Australia, where she stayed with her son for her last four years.
Positions held
Year Description 1972–1978 Elected to 5th Assam Assembly Cabinet Minister - Education (1975–78) 1978–1983 Elected to 6th Assam Assembly 8th Chief Minister of Assam (1980–81) 1983–1985 Elected to 7th Assam Assembly Cabinet Minister - Public Works 1988–1990 Nominated to Rajya Sabha 1991–1996 Elected to 9th Assam Assembly Cabinet Minister - Agriculture, Haj and Wakf Property 2004–2010 Elected to Rajya Sabha Chairperson - Committee on Papers Laid on the Table (2004–10) Member - Committee on Urban Development (2004–10) Member - Committee on Empowerment of Women (2004–10) Member - General Purposes Committee (2004–10) Member - Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (2004–10) Vice President - India-Bangladesh Parliamentary Friendship Group (2005–10) Member - National Advisory Committee of Minority Department (2006–10)
Notes Encyclopaedia of Scheduled Tribes in India: In Five Volumes by P. K. Mohanty Page 124.
References
External links Profile on Rajya Sabha website