"Those in this world who have the courage to try and solve in their lives new problems of life, are the ones who raise society to greatness. Those who merely live according to rule do not advance society, they only carry it along."

The above sayings of Mahatma Gandhi aptly define the life of Rajesh Pilot, an indomitable spirit, who overcame numerous social and economic hurdles and became a example of courage, idealism and probity in public life.

He was an able Parliamentarian, a passionate leader and a humble person deeply committed to humanitarian ideals.

Born in village Baidpura in District Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh on February 10, 1945, he had his schooling from M.M. Higher Secondary School, New Delhi and later he studied in Meerut University.

Shri Rajesh Pilot joined the Air Force Academy at Coimbatore in June, 1964 and was commissioned in the Flying Branch on October 29, 1966. He served for 13 years in Fighter and Transport Squardron of the Indian Air Force and saw action in Bangladesh during the lndo-Pak War of 1971. He,resigned from Air Force in November, 1979.

Shri Pilot joined politics as the 7th Lok Sabha Congress (I) candidate in December, 1979 and was elected to Lok Sabha from Bharatpur Constituency (Rajasthan) in 1984 and was inducted into the Union Council of Ministers as Minister bf State, Surface Transport in the Ministry of Transport on September 25, 1985 and was later in 1986 elevated to head the Ministry as Minister of State with independent charge. He continued with taking a number of initiatives including Acquisition Licensing procedure, introduction of progressive Motor Vehicles Act, creation of National Highways Authority of India, besides giving a big fillip to the growth of port sector.

Shri Rajesh Pilot was re-elected to the 1Oth Lok Sabha in 1991 from Dausa Constituency (Rajasthan). He was inducted in the Union Council of Ministers as Minister of State for Communications with independent charge with effect from June 26th 1991. As the Minister in charge of Communications, Shri Pilot was  widely  hailed  as  the  person  having  revolutionized  the communication  scenario in the country. A series of measures aimed at modernization of communication sector, expanding the technological  base  by  inducting  state  of  art  technologies, introduction of mobile telephones for the first time in the country besides  liberalizing  the  STD/ISD  and  PCO  network  as  also expansion of the STD system to cover the rural areas, were taken under his stewardship of the Ministry. Shri Pilot was entrusted with the responsibility of Internal Security as Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs in January 1993 in the aftermath of Babri Masjid demolition. Shri Pilot is credited with taking a series of measures  for  streamlining  the  intelligence  networking  and coordination mechanism amongst different States. Shri Pilot was regarded as an expert in Kashmir and North Eastern affairs, the areas which he handled both in his capacity as Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs, earlier as Member of Parliament and even prior to that as a serving Officer of the Indian Air Force having had wide exposure of working in the North Eastern States. Shri Pilot is regarded as the man having built bridges with the All Assam Students Union at the height of Assam agitation. He was also responsible for conceptualization of the Jharkhand Autonomous Area Council Bill with the Jharkhand leaders. Shri Pilot is also hailed as the Minister who took a tough stand to break the nexus of politicians bureau crats businessmen and underworld elements during his tenure in the Ministry of Home Affairs and the widely talked about "Vohra Committee" on the subject was set up by him to come up with suggestions to break the nexus.

In the latter part of the 10th Lok Sabha, Shri Pilot also held independent charge as Minister of State in the Ministry of Environment and Forest from September 95 to January 96. In this Ministry, he is regarded as the man responsible for spreading environment conciousness to the rural areas and masses besides focusing on urban areas.

Shri Rajesh Pilot was elected as Member of Parliament of 11th Lok Sabha in 1996. He was re-elected as Member of Parliament for the 12th Lok Sabha in 1998 from Dausa Constituency (Rajasthan). He retained the seat again as Member of 13th Lok Sabha from the same Constituency. Shri Pilot was deeply admired by the people of his constituency. Starting from Bharatpur constituency which he represented in 1980, Shri Pilot represented the Dausa Constituency of Rajasthan for five terms and breathed his last in the same Constituency on 11th June, 2000 when a freak motor accident snatched him away from us.

In 1992 he was elected as member of Congress Working Committee at the Tirupati Convention of Congress and was nominated again in 1999 by the Congress President as member of the Congress Working Committee.

A deeply religious person, Shri Rajesh Pilot was a staunch proponent of communal harmony and secularism.

The Department of Posts is happy to issue a commemorative postage stamp on Shri Rajesh Pilot.

Source : Information Folder issued by Indian Posts & Telegraph Department, Government of India