Mina Pandey

Mina Pandey (11 May 1952 – 30 May 2023) was a Nepali politician, a member of the House of Representatives of the Federal Parliament of Nepal, and a former Minister of State for Women and Social Welfare, serving from December 1997 to December 1998.

Early life and education Pandey was born on 11 May 1952 in Bethan-2, Ramechhap District, the third child of Bhakta Bahadur Khadka and Dev Kumari Khadka. She attended Shree Kusheshwor Primary School, studying up to class five before leaving due to the absence of secondary schools in the village.

In 1968, she moved to Kathmandu and resumed her studies, enrolling in class nine. She later completed an undergraduate degree in Sociology and History from Padma Kanya Campus (PKC), a constituent campus of Tribhuvan University.

Political career Student activism Pandey began her political involvement during her student years. In 1978-79, she became the first elected President of PKC's Free Students Union. She also served as a Central Committee Member of the Nepal Student Union (NSU), affiliated with the Nepali Congress. She participated in the Satyagraha movements of 1982 and 1985, and was jailed for the first time during the Students' Movement of 1990.. . She was re-elected from the same constituency in the 1994 general election, defeating Rajendra Mahato of the Nepal Sadbhavana Party by a margin of 387 votes .

During her parliamentary tenure, she played a role in amending the eleventh Fundamental Rights provision and in the passage of the Abortion Bill, which was approved in 2000.

Pandey served as Minister of State for Women and Social Welfare in the cabinets headed by Surya Bahadur Thapa

In the 2013 Constituent Assembly election, she was a candidate for Nepali Congress in the Sarlahi-2 constituency.