Former state PWD minister Ram Prasad Kamal passes away

MATHURA: Former Minister of State for Public Works Department Ram Prasad Kamal passed away after a brief illness in Allahabad.

The 84-year old veteran parliamentarian breathed his last at his son's residence in Allahabad yesterday. He was brought to his ancestral home in Mathura late last night where his last rites will be performed at Dhruv Ghat this afternoon.

Kamal served as the Minister of State for PWD for BJP government from 1997-2004.

According to younger son Bhuvan Bhushan, Kamal was a batchmate of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee while studying law at DAV College, Kanpur.

Kamal was inducted into the BJP by Vajpayee in 1980 following which he was elected for two consecutive terms as member of the Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Parishad from 1992.

Earlier, he had been twice elected as a member of the Mathura Nagar Palika as an independent candidate.

Kamal had also served as the president of BSA College's law department and as the dean of Agra University's law department.

He is survived by his wife Rameshwari Devi and nine children.