Saifuddin Soz

Saifuddin Soz () (born November 23, 1937) is an Indian professor and a long-time Member of the Parliament of India. Soz hails from the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. He had been India's Minister of Water Resources in India's 14th Lok Sabha and Minister of Environment and Forests in the 1990s. In January 2006, he was nominated to the Congress Working Committee, the executive committee of the Indian National Congress. He is married to Mumtazunnisa Soz; they have two sons and a daughter.

Early life

Soz was born in Sopore, a township in the northern Kashmir Valley. He worked his way to completing a Master's degree in economics from the University of Kashmir, where he later held the position of registrar. He held teaching positions in many colleges affiliated with the University of Kashmir before taking on the position of registrar of the university. From there, Soz moved to the Jammu and Kashmir State Board of School Education (BOSE), a government department responsible for administration of schools. Soz sought voluntary retirement from government service to enter politics in 1983. At that time, he was Secretary of the BOSE.

Career

In 1983 Lok Sabha election, Soz contested and won the Baramulla seat as a candidate of the ruling Jammu and Kashmir National Conference party. At the time, the JKNC was headed by Dr. Farooq Abdullah. Soz went on to win three more Lok Sabha...
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