New Delhi: Labour and Employment Minister Sis Ram Ola died at a Gurgaon hospital yesterday, where he was admitted over a month ago for treatment of an eye infection and a cardiac problem. Ola, 86, will be accorded a state funeral at his home district Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan today.
Top dignitaries, including President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President Hamid Ansari and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, condoled his death while the cabinet met to mourn passing away of the veteran leader. As a mark of respect to Ola, the national flag was flown at half-mast on all government buildings in Delhi and all state and union territories and will also be flown likewise at Jhunjhunu today.
The veteran Congress leader was admitted to the Medanta Hospital around 45 days ago, officials from the hospital and his office said. “He died at 4 a.m. Sunday due to heart failure,” his office said. Ola is survived by his wife Shiv Bai, sons Bijender and Surjeet and daughter Chandrakala.
Born July 30, 1927, the Jat leader was a member of the Rajasthan assembly from 1957 to 1990 and served as minister from 1980 to 1990. He received the Padma Shri in 1968 for social work. He was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time in 1996 and then again in 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2009.
IANS
