Born in Bareilly Uttar Pradesh on 1 November, 1948, BJP leader Santosh Kumar Gangwar was appointed Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Labour and Employment. He was one of the 22 Ministers of State who took oath along with Narendra Modi’s first Cabinet at the Centre. Gangwar was earlier given the Independent Charge of the Textiles ministry along with Parliamentary Affairs, Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.
In 2017, he was made a Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Labour and Employment employment in September 2017.
An agriculturist-cum-advocate, Gangwar has been elected to the Lok Sabha seven times from Bareily since his first election in 1989 (except 2009-14). He has served in several ministries in NDA governments like finance, petroleum and natural gas, parliamentary affairs, science and technology, labour and employment, heavy industries and public enterprises, textiles and water resources, river development, and Ganga rejuvenation. He has also been member of various parliamentary committees in his career.
Gangwar holds a BSC degree from Agra University and an LLB degree from Rohilkhand University.