NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her maiden Union Budget on Friday. With a slowing economy and rising unemployment, her job is clearly cut out. Sitharaman, 59, is the senior most woman minister in Modi’s cabinet and the second woman to head the finance department after late former prime minister Indira Gandhi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had surprised all by naming Sitharaman, formerly the country’s defence minister, as the finance minister at a time when Asia’s third-largest economy is stuttering.

Since she has already served as a junior Minister in Finance and Corporate Affairs earlier, it won't be difficult for her to get into action from day one.

That she is a post-graduate in Economics will be an advantage.

Before becoming the Defence Minister in the previous Modi government, Sitharaman served as the Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs. She was also Minister for Commerce and Industry with independent charge.
Born in the temple town of Madurai in Tamil Nadu in 1959, Sitharaman has humble roots.

Her father worked in the Railways, and her childhood was spent in different parts of the state due to her father's transferable job. According to those close to the minister, her mother, a homemaker, had love for books, which instilled a love for reading in Sitharaman as well.

After finishing her graduation in Economics from Seethaiakshmi Ramaswamy College in Tiruchirapalli, Sitharaman did a Masters and M.Phil in Economics from the premier Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi. She then worked in the Agricultural Engineers Association, UK in London, Senior Manager, Research and Analysis with PricewaterhouseCoopers, also in London and briefly with the BBC World Service.

After coming back to India, Sitharaman served as a Deputy Director of the Centre for Public Policy Studies at Hyderabad. She also started a school in Hyderabad, and was a member of the National Commission for Women from 2003-2005.

In 2008, Sitharaman joined Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and was made a member of the National Executive and became a national spokesperson of the party in 2010.

As a spokesperson of the main opposition party at that time, Sitharaman, with her clear command of issues and straight approach, came in the limelight soon.

When the BJP came in power in 2014, Sitharaman was inducted into the ministry, serving as Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs and then held charge of Commerce and Industry Ministry as Minister of State (Independent Charge).

Sitharaman is married to Parakala Prabhakar, an alumnus of Jawaharlal Nehru University and London School of Economics, and the couple has a daughter.

(With inputs from IANS)