Early life and education Handique studied English literature at
Presidency College, Calcutta (now Kolkata). He went on to complete M.A. in English from the University of Calcutta. He attended
Jorhat Govt. Boys' H.S and M.P. School in his formative years. In Class VII, he joined the local Students' Congress, during India's freedom movement. There, he mobilised other students in a 'Vote for Congress' campaign, before the Assam provincial elections of 1945. He organised literary circles for talks around freedom. This was much against the wishes of his father, who then wanted him to pursue a career in academics. He became a member of Youth Congress formally in 1961. Handique donated his mother's jewellery to the war effort. In 2012, the school celebrated its 50th anniversary. Handique composed a song for the occasion, set to tune by a former student.
1970s: Assam State Assembly 1980-1985: Rajya Sabha Handique was a member of: • Consultative Committee, Ministry of Education & Sports Affairs (1980–90) • Committee of Privileges (1984–85) • Committee on Welfare of
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (1982–84) After 1986, he stayed on the Consultative Committee, Ministry of Education & Sports Affairs until 1990.
1999-2004: 13th Lok Sabha Handique was a member of: As Minister of State and Cabinet Minister for seven years in the 14th and part of 15th Lok Sabha (between June 2004 and July 2011), Handique participated in debates on behalf of the government. Only starred questions and replies have been included in the three volumes for economy of space. Under Parliamentary proceedings, ministers do not ask questions, but reply to questions of Members. They also do not introduce private member bills. They include debates on Assam Appropriation Bill, Assam State legislature (Delegation of Powers) Bill, 1981, Floods in Assam, Chaparmukh-Silghat Railway line Bill, Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Bill, Tea (Amendment) Bill, Gangtok Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, among others. Bills of national importance include Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Bill, The Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill, 1985, Handloom Bill, The Copyrights (Amendment) Bill, National Health Policy, General Budgets and Finance Bills, among others. "Scope of a Minister as a Parliamentarian, is of course different from that of a Member of Parliament. How I speak as an M.P. from the Treasury Benches, as a Member in Opposition and as a member of the Council of Ministers follow conventionally different patterns", Handique writes in his foreword to A Life in Parliament.
2009-2014: 15th Lok Sabha, Cabinet Minister Pratibha Patil administering the oath as cabinet minister to Handique in
New Delhi on 22 May 2009
Minister of Mines He was the
Minister of Mines from May 2009 to 18 January 2011,
Minister of Development of North Eastern Region from May 2009 to July 2011 and
Minister of State, Defence & Parliamentary Affairs, Mines &
Chemicals and Fertilizers between 2004 and 2009. In the 15th Lok Sabha elections, Handique won from the Jorhat constituency for the sixth consecutive term and was promoted to Union Cabinet minister status. He formally took the oath of office as Union Cabinet Minister holding dual charges of Mines and the Development of North East Region (DoNER) portfolios. Handique was appointed a Minister of State for Defence and Parliamentary Affairs in 2004, and then was a Minister of State for Chemicals & Fertilizers and Mines up to 2009. It was during his tenure as Union Cabinet Minister of Mines from May 2009 to January 2011 that a new direction was given to the Nation's Mining Policy with the clause for participation and inclusion of local communities in mining belts including tribal areas. The Draft mining bill initiated by Handique was due for introduction in the Indian Parliament. Handique proposed that 26% of equity or profits from the mining operations of a company should go to the people directly affected by the mining operations. He proposed that this was the only way to give the local tribal populations in mining areas a stake in their operations. Handique proposed to make locals –project affected people [PAP]- the stakeholders in the project, and thus remove major impediment in expansion of old or development of new mines. During his tenure, Handique came under pressure to sell off the government's stakes in profitable mining companies like
Coal India Ltd and Hindustan Copper Ltd, to private players. Despite that, he reasoned that since it was difficult to value these companies and because the benefits of privatisation were not obvious, the government would not sell its stake. He also blocked the privatisation-by-stealth strategy of mining companies like
Vedanta Resources. Handique proposed a
windfall tax on ore exported to raise resources for the people adversely affected by projects. Despite his proposal for a windfall tax, Handique was not in favour of banning mining activities in any state. He requested chief ministers of all mining states to cooperate with the government's efforts to clean up mining and ensure proper revenue collection.
Minister of Development of the North Eastern Region During his tenure as Minister of Development of North Eastern Region, he initiated policy changes regarding connectivity, promotion of youth and industry in the Region. Integration of the Region to the Mainstream was his major focus as the Minister of DoNER.
Post-Cabinet Minister activities After tendering his resignation as Cabinet Minister, Handique was appointed chairman of the newly constituted parliamentary Standing Committee for Welfare of Other Backward Classes. After 2012, he was a member of the Indian National Congress' Central Election Committee. The 14-member panel, chaired by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, is entrusted with the task of selecting party candidates for state and national elections. ==Personal life==