Sahib Singh Verma

Sahib Singh Verma (15 March 1943 – 30 June 2007) was an Indian politician and the former senior vice-president of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He served as Chief Minister of Delhi (1996–1998) and was member of 13th Lok Sabha, Parliament of India (1999–2004). He served as the Union Labour Minister of India

Life
Sahib Singh was born on 15 March 1943 in Mundka village, Delhi to Mir Singh, a farmer, and Bharpai Devi in a Hindu Jat family. In early childhood he was deeply influenced by Arya Samaj. He paternal uncle was in Azad Hind Fauj who had fought for Indian Independence in the leadership of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. This left indelible impression on young Sahib Singh. Both Arya Samaj and Netaji Subash Chandra Bose influenced him in the years to come.

Singh had a PhD degree in Library Science, and started work as librarian in Bhagat Singh College, Delhi. He also held a master's degree in Arts, (M.A.) and also in Library Science from Aligarh Muslim University.

In 1954, he and Sahib Kaur were married. They had two sons and three daughters and one of his son, Parvesh Verma is Member of parliament of Lok Sabha from West Delhi.

Political career
He began his socio-political journey as a volunteer in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and later climbed the ranks in politics. He took an interest in social activities. He started two NGOs named Gramin Swabhiman and Rastriya Swabhiman. He set up more than hundred Swabhiman Kendras in different villages of Delhi. These Kendras did have libraries and vocational training facilities for the youth from the deprived sections of the society. He organised a Samman Samaroh in the IG Indoor stadium for the families of the martyrs of Kargil war and paid one lakh rupees each to the families of over two hundred fifty martyrs.

After Gujarat earthquake he got two villages rebuilt with the help from the people of Delhi. One of those villages called Dudhai having eight hundred houses was rebuilt within just hundred days by constructing concrete houses and renamed as Indraprastha. Similarly, when there was cyclone in Orissa he went there and helped in rebuilding of several villages. He had also served the World Jat Aryan Foundation, as its president.

In 1977 he was elected to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and took the Oath as a Councillor by the hands of from Guru Radha Kishan. Initially won as a Janata Party candidate he was re-elected on a BJP ticket. He became the Education and Development Minister in the Delhi government in 1993. As Education Minister of Delhi he is credited for setting up several new colleges under Delhi University and also large number of schools. As Development Minister of Delhi he took great interest in the development of villages.

In 1996, after Madan Lal Khurana was embroiled in a corruption crisis, Sahib Singh became the Chief Minister of Delhi As Chief Minister of Delhi he worked for the welfare of people. Those days there was a stay on the development works in the unauthorised colonies. To get relief for the residents of the unauthorised colonies in Delhi he personally appeared in the High Court and got permission to carry out development works despite Khurana being acquitted by the courts. Singh served as CM for two and a half years, facing increasing rivalry from Khurana. Following an onion price crisis, he was replaced by Sushma Swaraj. Although BJP won three elections in Delhi during his period of Chief Ministership yet he was removed just before the elections in 1998. As Chief Minister of Delhi he started Metro, set up Indraprastha University and took several other landmark decisions.

Subsequently, he won the Lok Sabha elections, 1999 from Outer Delhi with a margin of over two lakh votes. In 2002, he became Minister of Labour in the Vajpayee government, and was known as "bull in a China shop" for standing up against the bureaucrats against lowering the Provident Fund interest rate. He was the architect of Social Security Scheme for the workers of unorganised sector. However, he was defeated in the 2004 polls.

He died in a road accident in Rajasthan in 2007.