Daughter of Dalit leader Chaudhary Dalbir Singh, Selja was born on September 24, 1962. She did her schooling from Convent of Jesus & Mary and did M.phil from Punjab University, Chandigarh. She held various positions in Congress Party and became joint secretary of the All India Mahila Congress in 1990, she was elected to 10th Lok Sabha in 1991. From July 1992- Sept 1995 She was Union Deputy Minister for Human Resources Development and looked after Department of Education and Culture. She was re-elected to 11th Lok Sabha (2nd term) in 1996 and to 14th Lok Sabha (3rd term) in 2004. This is her 4th term as Member of Parliament in 15th Lok Sabha. She was Member, executive committee, congress parliamentary party since 2004. She has championed the cause of upliftment of Scheduled Caste and other disadvantaged groups and has got special interest in the environmental issue with special reference to developmental issue of the developed world. Her favourite pastime is Reading, Travelling and Music. She is a member of Army Golf Club, India Habitat Centre and India International Centre. She is widely travelled. Kumari Selja assumed the charge as Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA) second time in succession on Saturday, May 30, 2009. This time she has been elevated as the Cabinet Minister for HUPA and also given charge of Tourism. In the previous UPA regime she was holding charge of Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation.