London: England’s West Midlands city has got its first British-Indian Lord Mayor in councilor Chaman Lal after local councilors elected Birmingham to represent it as its first citizen. Coming from the Ravidasia community of British Sikhs, Lal was born in Pakhowal village of Hoshiarpur, where he served as a local councilor for many years, before moving to the UK.
The Labor Party politician was first elected in 1994 and was re-elected as councilor for the Soho and Jewelery Quarter wards in the most recent local elections. “It is a very proud moment for me and our family as the son of an army officer born in India but raised in Birmingham,” Lal said in his acceptance speech at a mayoral ceremony last week.
“I am an adopted Brummie, and I never thought that one day I would be Lord Mayor of my adopted city. I would like to thank my fellow councilors for electing me as their first citizen and our great city Did it, which happens.” The highest civilian role is assigned to a serving councillor,” he said. According to Birmingham City Council, Chaman Lal’s father, Sardar Harnam Singh Banga, was a British Indian Army officer who served in the Italian campaign during World War II Lal’s father came to England in 1954 and settled in Birmingham, taking employment in various industries including several years with British Steel.
Chaman Lal came to England with his mother Sardarni Jai Kaur in 1964 to live with his father and has lived in Birmingham ever since. He attended Wattville Secondary Modern School and continued his studies with evening classes at Sandwell and Matthew Boulton Colleges. He believes in lifelong learning and continued his academic studies in economics and law on part-time degree courses at the local polytechnic. He qualified as an engineer in electronics and became an apprentice with an electronics company. He went on to become the youngest ever Chief Engineer of Birmingham City Council, in the Services Department and was later promoted to the position of Manager of the Services Department.
Lal set up his electronics business as well as other businesses. He married Vidya Vati in 1971 and the couple has three daughters and two sons. His interest in politics dates back to 1989 when he joined the Labor Party and participated in several social justice campaigns to challenge inequality and discrimination.
He has served on most local council committees over the past 29 years, including as cabinet advisor for major transport projects and most recently as chair of the Sustainability and Transport Oversight and Inquiry Committee. “He served for many years on the West Midlands Transport Authority and has a keen interest in improving public transport. As chair of the Transport Scrutiny Committee, he led a number of working and finish groups, including the best e-ticketing The solution involved making recommendations to the WMPTA which led to the introduction of contactless travel (SWIFT cards) in the West Midlands region,” the local council said.
His other policy reviews resulted in more late night and early morning bus services to meet the needs of early morning workers as well as the night economy. Lal’s interests outside politics include cricket, live music and the performing arts.