Career
After university, Dutt worked in television and video and studied at The Center for the Media Arts in New York.
During a tense political period in 1992-1993, Dutt worked with Muslim refugees in Mumbai. She reported receiving threatening telephone calls and public harassment.
In 2005, despite low voter turnout, she won her seat in the Lok Sabha by a margin of 172,043 votes over a rival candidate from the Shiv Sena. Dutt received considerable media attention for this victory, partially on account of her famous family and the fact she had given birth to her first child a few days before the election.
Since her election, Dutt has been appointed secretary of the All-India Congress Committee. In office, she has encouraged MLAs and local community representations dealing with better governance.
Dutt also runs a charity, The Nargis Dutt Memorial Charitable Trust. Among other projects, the charity has focused on bringing kitchen sets and medical aid to flood victims in the state of Bihar, following disastrous flooding in 2008. Dutt went to Bihar with her husband to visit refugee camps and distribute equipment.
Dutt is reported to have welcomed the decision of the Samajwadi Party to field her controversial brother, Sanjay, as an electoral candidate.(Misqouted-no mention of Priya Dutt in the article referred to here) Sanjay Dutt is currently appealing against his 2007 conviction for possessing illegal firearms. He was prosecuted as part of the investigation into the 1993 Bombay bombings, though he was cleared of conspiracy to commit terrorism.
Dutt will be featured in UniGlobe Entertainment's breast cancer docu-drama titled 1 a Minute scheduled for release in 2010. The documentary is being made by actress Namrata Singh Gujral and will also feature breast cancer suriviors Olivia Newton-John, Diahann Carroll, Melissa Etheridge, Namrata Singh Gujral, Mumtaz and Jaclyn Smith as well as William Baldwin, Daniel Baldwin and Priya Dutt. The feature is narrated by Kelly McGillis. The film will also star Bárbara Mori, Lisa Ray, Deepak Chopra and Morgan Brittany.
Recently Dutt spoke out her views on the sex workers at Kamathipura and asserted her pro-legalisation stance regarding prostitution. She is also in talks with the chief minister of Maharashtra, Shri Prithviraj Chavan for the same.
Read more about this topic: Priya Dutt
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