| Som Parkash | |
| Office: | Union Minister of State, Commerce and Industry, Government of India |
| Termstart: | 30 May 2019 |
| Termend: | 4 June 2024 |
| Primeminister: | Narendra Modi |
| Office2: | Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha |
| Termstart2: | 23 May 2019 |
| Termend2: | 4 June 2024 |
| Predecessor2: | Vijay Sampla |
| Successor2: | Raj Kumar Chabbewal |
| Constituency2: | Hoshiarpur, Punjab |
| Office3: | MLA, Punjab |
| Constituency3: | Phagwara |
| Term3: | 2012-2019 |
| Predecessor3: | Swarna Ram |
| Successor3: | Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal |
| Party: | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Residence: | Phagwara, Kapurthala |
| Birth Date: | 3 April 1949 |
| Birth Place: | Daulatpur, East Punjab, India |
| Father: | Hazara Ram |
| Mother: | Mahon Devi |
| Spouse: | Anita Som Parkash |
| Children: | 2 |
Som Parkash (born 3 April 1949) is a politician belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party. He was the Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Government of India. Parkash was a Member of Parliament from Hoshiarpur Lok Sabha Constituency and a former Member of Legislative Assembly from Phagwara.[1] He is also a former Deputy Commissioner of Jalandhar and former Indian Administrative Service career officer of 1988 batch in the Punjab cadre.
Som Parkash was born on 3 April 1949, in Daulatpur, Punjab, to Hazara Ram, his father.[2] [3] [4] He received his Master of Arts in Economics from Panjab University, Chandigarh.[5]
Parkash was part of the 1988 batch of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in the Punjab cadre. He began his career as a research officer in the Punjab State Planning Board in 1972.[6] Later, he served as an excise and taxation officer in the Punjab Excise Department. Parkash has also served as the deputy commissioner of Faridkot, Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar and has other posts, including as the Labour Commissioner, Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA) chief administrator, managing director of the Punjab Financial Corporation and director of the Social Security Department.
Parkash first unsuccessfully contested Lok Sabha during Indian general elections in 2009 from the Hoshiarpur constituency.[7] Due to corruption charges, sitting Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Phagwara Swarna Ram was dropped from the state cabinet, which led BJP to look for a new candidate and Parkash was selected as the BJP candidate in 2012 Punjab elections. He successfully contested and became MLA from Phagwara. For the next term in 2017, he was again fielded to contest Punjab Vidhan Sabha elections from Phagwara and he won consecutively for the second time
In 2019 General Elections, he was given ticket from Hoshiarpur Lok Sabha Constituency in place of Vijay Sampla and he managed to win that election.[8] In May 2019, Parkash became Minister of State for Commerce and Industry.
Parkash is married to Anita Som Parkash and has 2 sons, Sanjeev and Sahil Kainth.[9]