Tributes paid to Kedar Singh Fonia
By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 29 Nov: Former BJP minister and MLA Kedar Singh Fonia passed away in October this year owing to old age. Tributes were paid to him in the House, today, by members of the ruling party as well as the Opposition.
To begin with, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prem Chand Aggarwal briefed the House on the demise of Kedar Singh Fonia. He reminded the House that Fonia was born in 1930 and that he had a deep understanding of tourism. Kedar Singh Fonia had served the Tourism Department of the Central Government but had resigned in 1969 to join politics. He joined the BJP in 1991. He became an MLA in the same year and the Minister of Tourism and Culture in UP. He also won the elections of 1993 and 1996 and became the Minister of Tourism and Industry in the interim government of Uttarakhand. He also won an election from the Badrinath constituency in 2007.
Aggarwal also reminded that Fonia had done his MA from Allahabad University in 1956 and was posted as Information Assistant in the Tourism Department of the Central Government. Two years later, he was sent to the Indian Embassy in Sri Lanka. In 1965, he was appointed the founding manager of the northern region of the newly formed Indian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC). The very next year he was sent to Czechoslovakia for an eight-month International Tourism Diploma course. He made a study trip to Geneva, Frankfurt, Paris and London.
After losing the by-election in 1969, he joined the government services again and became Divisional Manager in 1971, General Manager in 1973 in UP’s Parvatiya Vikas Nigam, where he laid the foundation for Garhwal Mandal and Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigams. Kedar Singh Fonia was the Tourism Minister in the UP Government in 1992. Aggarwal reminded that when he (Aggarwal) was the Chairman of GMVN, he had the opportunity to interact with Fonia, who was a very humble person.
Yashpal Arya too paid rich tribute to Fonia and recalled his experience as a politician as well as an expert on development and tourism in Uttarakhand. Munna Singh Chauhan said that, although in the nineties he belonged to the Opposition party, yet Fonia treated him with utmost love and care in undivided UP and also discussed with him the formation of Uttarakhand state. Chauhan also reminded that Fonia was very humble and loved to offer his advice to anyone who approached him. Fonia had also written several books of great reference value which could be useful in times to come.
Speaker Ritu Khanduri Bhushan also paid rich tribute to the late Fonia before the entire House rose to its feet to observe silence as a mark of respect to him.
