Shripad Naik


Shripad Yesso Naik is an Indian politician and the Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy and Minister of State for Defence. He was the former Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare. He is the Member of Parliament from North Goa constituency, representing the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Early life

Shripaad Naik was born on 4 October 1952 at Adpai village, North Goa District, Goa.

Political career

In 1999, he was elected to the 13th Lok Sabha from North Goa constituency in Goa. As of 2019, he has held his seat in this constituency winning in 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019 elections. As of 2019, he is a member of the 17th Lok Sabha. In 2014 Lok Sabha Election he won with a margin of 105000 votes which is very high for a small state of Goa
Further, as advised by the Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi, the President has appointed Shripad Yesso Naik as Minister for Culture and Tourism in the 16th Lok Sabha.
Shripad Naik was appointed Minister of State of the Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India, on 9 Nov 2014. On March 25, 2016, Shripad Naik publicly stated he had access to research which proved that diseases such as cancer could be cured by yoga. He further stated that his Ministry was a year away from granting an endorsement to such techniques and research. The statement was challenged by medical researchers, scholars and doctors, who advocated caution in claiming a cure to cancer on the basis of unproven and unpublished research with no scientific evidence.
Naik continued as Minister of State for AYUSH and was appointed as Minister of State for Defence on 31 May 2019.

Awards

He received the Samaraj Ratna Award on 18 August 2016.