Anurag Singh Thakur once again honoured with Sansad Ratna Award
Coal, Mines and Steel Committee under the leadership of Anurag Singh Thakur conferred the Sansad Ratna Award 2026
Record original reports earn Sansad Ratna Award for the parliamentary committee led by Anurag Singh Thakur
Excellence in parliamentary oversight: Coal and Mines Committee wins Sansad Ratna Award 2026
Anurag Singh Thakur dedicates the Sansad Ratna Award 2026 to committee members and secretariat staff
New Delhi, 9 September 2026: Former Union Minister and Member of Parliament from Hamirpur parliamentary constituency, Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, has once again been honoured with the Sansad Ratna Award. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Coal, Mines and Steel, chaired by Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, has been conferred the prestigious Sansad Ratna Award 2026. At the 16th edition of the awards held at the Dr. Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi, the committee received special recognition in the category of “Highest in the Original Reports presented.” It is one of only four parliamentary committees from both Houses of Parliament selected for this major national honour this year.
Highlighting the significance of the award, the organisers stated that the Sansad Ratna Award holds a unique place in Indian democracy as a non-governmental initiative. Inspired by the vision of former President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the award evaluates parliamentary performance impartially and transparently entirely from the perspective of civil society. Accepting the honour, Shri Anurag Singh Thakur expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the jury members and the Prime Point Foundation. Dedicating the award to his fellow committee members and the officers and staff of the committee secretariat, he said that this recognition reflects their collective synergy, rigorous research, and firm commitment to strengthening bipartisan legislative oversight.
Under the leadership of Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, the Coal, Mines and Steel Committee has demonstrated exceptional productivity, convening 64 meetings and presenting 29 comprehensive reports since June 2024. These reports address strategic sectors critical to India’s long-term economic and infrastructural resilience, including securing critical mineral supply chains through KABIL, accelerating domestic mineral exploration, increasing production of washed coal, promoting ‘self-reliance’ in the steel sector, and reviewing the effective implementation of the District Mineral Foundation (DMF) Fund and the Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY) to support the journey towards a ‘Developed India’.
Shri Anurag Singh Thakur’s leadership of the committee draws upon his extensive administrative experience as a Union Minister overseeing key ministries during his five-year tenure. In addition to heading the Coal, Mines and Steel panel, his current parliamentary responsibilities include serving on the Public Accounts Committee and the Consultative Committee on Power. He is also contributing to important legislative bodies, including the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on ‘One Nation One Election’, the JPC on the 130th Constitutional Amendment Bill, and the JPC on the Vikasit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
On the international front, Shri Anurag Singh Thakur is actively promoting cross-border parliamentary diplomacy and global policy engagement. He currently serves as Chairman of the India-European Union Parliamentary Friendship Group and has previously led the FICCI Indo-US Parliamentarians Forum and the India-Germany Parliamentarians Forum. He has also represented the country on the steering committees of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the World Trade Organization (WTO). For his early contributions to public policy, he received the Best Young Parliamentarian Award in 2011, and in 2014 he was named a ‘Young Global Leader’ by the World Economic Forum, earning global recognition.
This latest institutional honour further enhances his established track record of achievements, which includes the individual Sansad Ratna Award in 2019 for outstanding parliamentary performance and the Champions of Change Award 2019 for impactful social welfare initiatives, underscoring Shri Anurag Singh Thakur’s significant contributions to public life.
