Minister of Railways (India)

Summary

The Minister of Railways (Hindi: रेल मंत्री, Rail Mantrī) is the head of the Ministry of Railways and a senior member of the union council of ministers of India. The position of the Minister of Railways is usually held by a minister of cabinet rank and has occasionally been held by a minister of state with independent charge. The cabinet ministers are often assisted by one or two junior ministers, or the Ministers of State for Railways.

Minister of Railways
Rail Mantrī
Incumbent
Ashwini Vaishnaw
since 7 July 2021 (2021-07-07)
Ministry of Railways
Member ofCabinet of India
Reports toPresident of India
Prime Minister of India
Parliament of India
AppointerPresident of India
on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of India
Formation1947 (1947)
First holderJohn Matthai
(as Minister of Transport)
DeputyMinister of State for Railways

The current Minister of Railways is Ashwini Vaishnaw of the Bharatiya Janata Party who has been in office since 7 July 2021 while Raosaheb Danve and Darshana Jardosh are the ministers of state for railways.

History edit

The position of the Minister of Railways first came into existence upon independence in 1947 as the Minister of Transport. John Mathai served as the first Minister of Transport from 1947 till 1948. On 22 September 1948, the ministry was renamed as the "Ministry of Railways and Transport" and N. Gopalaswamy Ayyangar was appointed as the first minister of the renamed ministry. The ministry was renamed as the "Ministry of Railways" on 17 April 1957 with Jagjivan Ram becoming the first holder to officially hold the title of the Minister of Railways.

The ministry of Railways was merged with the Ministry of Shipping and Transport and the Department of Civil Aviation on 25 September 1985 to form a common ministry responsible for transport and was named the Ministry of Surface Transport. Bansi Lal, who served as the Railways Minister prior to the merger became the first holder of the office of Minister of Surface Transport. However, on 22 October 1986, the Ministry of Railways was separated from the Ministry of Surface Transport and thus became an independent ministry and has been the same since then.

Cabinet Ministers edit

  • Key: Assassinated or died in office
  • Note: MoS, I/C – Minister of State (Independent Charge)
No. Portrait Minister
(Birth-Death)
Constituency
Term of office Political party Ministry Prime Minister
From To Period
Minister of Transport
1   John Mathai
(1886–1959)
15 August
1947
22 September
1948
1 year, 38 days Indian National Congress Nehru I Jawaharlal Nehru
Minister of Transport and Railways
2   N. Gopalaswamy Ayyangar
(1882–1953)
MP for Madras (Interim)
22 September
1948
13 May
1952
3 years, 234 days Indian National Congress Nehru I Jawaharlal Nehru
3   Lal Bahadur Shastri
(1904–1966)
Rajya Sabha MP for Uttar Pradesh
13 May
1952
7 December
1956
4 years, 208 days Nehru II
4   Jagjivan Ram
(1908–1986)
MP for Shahabad South
7 December
1956
17 April
1957
131 days
Minister of Railways
(4)   Jagjivan Ram
(1908–1986)
MP for Sasaram
17 April
1957
10 April
1962
4 years, 358 days Indian National Congress Nehru III Jawaharlal Nehru
5   Swaran Singh
(1907–1994)
MP for Jullundur
10 April
1962
1 September
1963
1 year, 144 days Nehru IV
6   H. C. Dasappa
(1894–1964)
MP for Bangalore
1 September
1963
27 May
1964
282 days
27 May
1964
9 June
1964
Nanda I Gulzarilal Nanda
(acting)
7   S. K. Patil
(1898–1981)
MP for Mumbai South
9 June
1964
11 January
1966
2 years, 277 days Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri
11 January
1966
24 January
1966
Nanda II Gulzarilal Nanda
(acting)
24 January
1966
13 March
1967
Indira I Indira Gandhi
8   C. M. Poonacha
(1910–1990)
MP for Mangalore
13 March
1967
14 February
1969
1 year, 338 days Indira II
9   Ram Subhag Singh
(1917–1980)
MP for Buxar
14 February
1969
4 November
1969
263 days
10   Panampilly Govinda Menon
(1906–1970)
MP for Mukundapuram
4 November
1969
18 February
1970
106 days Indian National Congress (R)
11   Gulzarilal Nanda
(1898–1998)
MP for Kurukshetra
18 February
1970
18 March
1971
1 year, 28 days
12   Kengal Hanumanthaiah
(1908–1980)
MP for Bangalore City
18 March
1971
22 July
1972
1 year, 126 days Indira III
13 T. A. Pai
(1922–1981)
Rajya Sabha MP for Karnataka
22 July
1972
5 February
1973
198 days
14   Lalit Narayan Mishra
(1923–1975)
MP for Darbhanga
5 February
1973
3 January
1975[†]
1 year, 332 days
15 Kamalapati Tripathi
(1905–1990)
Rajya Sabha MP for Uttar Pradesh
10 February
1975
23 March
1977
2 years, 41 days
16 Madhu Dandavate
(1924–2005)
MP for Rajapur
26 March
1977
28 July
1979
2 years, 124 days Janata Party Desai Morarji Desai
(13) T. A. Pai
(1922–1981)
MP for Udipi
28 July
1979
14 January
1980
170 days Janata Party (Secular) Charan Singh Charan Singh
(15) Kamalapati Tripathi
(1905–1990)
Rajya Sabha MP for Uttar Pradesh
14 January
1980
12 November
1980
303 days Indian National Congress (I) Indira IV Indira Gandhi
17   Kedar Pandey
(1920–1982)
MP for Bettiah
12 November
1980
15 January
1982
1 year, 64 days
18   Prakash Chandra Sethi
(1919–1996)
MP for Indore
15 January
1982
2 September
1982
230 days
19   A. B. A. Ghani Khan Choudhury
(1927–2006)
MP for Malda
2 September
1982
31 October
1984
2 years, 59 days
4 November
1984
31 December
1984
57 days Rajiv I Rajiv Gandhi
20   Bansi Lal
(1927–2006)
MP for Bhiwani
31 December
1984
25 September
1985
268 days Rajiv II
Minister of Transport
(20)   Bansi Lal
(1927–2006)
MP for Bhiwani
25 September
1985
4 June
1986
252 days Indian National Congress (I) Rajiv II Rajiv Gandhi
  Rajiv Gandhi
(1944–1991)
MP for Amethi

(Prime Minister)
4 June
1986
24 June
1986
20 days
21   Mohsina Kidwai
(born 1932)
MP for Meerut
24 June
1986
22 October
1986
120 days
Minister of Railways
22   Madhavrao Scindia
(1945–2001)
MP for Gwalior

(MoS, I/C)
22 October
1986
2 December
1989
3 years, 41 days Indian National Congress (I) Rajiv II Rajiv Gandhi
23   George Fernandes
(1930–2019)
MP for Muzaffarpur
6 December
1989
10 November
1990
339 days Janata Dal V. P. Singh V. P. Singh
24 Janeshwar Mishra
(1933–2010)
MP for Allahabad
21 November
1990
21 June
1991
212 days Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) Chandra Shekhar Chandra Shekhar
25   C. K. Jaffer Sharief
(1933–2018)
MP for Bangalore North
21 June
1991
17 August
1995
4 years, 57 days Indian National Congress (I) Rao P. V. Narasimha Rao
  P. V. Narasimha Rao
(1921–2004)
MP for Nandyal

(Prime Minister)
18 August
1995
16 May
1996
272 days
  Atal Bihari Vajpayee
(1924–2018)
MP for Lucknow

(Prime Minister)
16 May
1996
1 June
1996
16 days Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee I Self
26   Ram Vilas Paswan
(1946–2020)
MP for Hajipur
1 June
1996
21 April
1997
1 year, 291 days Janata Dal Deve Gowda H. D. Deve Gowda
21 April
1997
19 March
1998
Gujral Inder Kumar Gujral
27   Nitish Kumar
(born 1951)
MP for Barh
19 March
1998
5 August
1999
1 year, 139 days Samata Party Vajpayee II Atal Bihari Vajpayee
28   Ram Naik
(born 1934)
MP for Mumbai North

(MoS, I/C)
6 August
1999
13 October
1999
161 days Bharatiya Janata Party
29   Mamata Banerjee
(born 1955)
MP for Calcutta South
13 October
1999
16 March
2001
1 year, 154 days All India Trinamool Congress Vajpayee III
  Atal Bihari Vajpayee
(1924–2018)
MP for Lucknow

(Prime Minister)
16 March
2001
20 March
2001
16 days Bharatiya Janata Party
(27)   Nitish Kumar
(born 1951)
MP for Barh
20 March
2001
22 May
2004
3 years, 63 days Janata Dal (United)
30   Lalu Prasad Yadav
(born 1948)
MP for Chapra
23 May
2004
22 May
2009
4 years, 364 days Rashtriya Janata Dal Manmohan I Manmohan Singh
(29)   Mamata Banerjee
(born 1955)
MP for Kolkata Dakshin
23 May
2009
19 May
2011
1 year, 361 days All India Trinamool Congress Manmohan II
  Manmohan Singh
(born 1932)
Rajya Sabha MP for Assam

(Prime Minister)
19 May
2011
12 July
2011
54 days Indian National Congress
31   Dinesh Trivedi
(born 1950)
MP for Barrackpore
12 July
2011
19 March
2012
251 days All India Trinamool Congress
32   Mukul Roy
(born 1954)
Rajya Sabha MP for West Bengal
20 March
2012
22 September
2012
186 days
33   C. P. Joshi
(born 1950)
MP for Bhilwara
22 September
2012
28 October
2012
36 days Indian National Congress
34   Pawan Kumar Bansal
(born 1948)
MP for Chandigarh
28 October
2012
11 May
2013
195 days
(33)   C. P. Joshi
(born 1950)
MP for Bhilwara
11 May
2013
15 June
2013
35 days
  Manmohan Singh
(born 1932)
Rajya Sabha MP for Assam

(Prime Minister)
15 June
2013
17 June
2013
2 days
35   Mallikarjun Kharge
(born 1942)
MP for Gulbarga
17 June
2013
26 May
2014
343 days
36   D. V. Sadananda Gowda
(born 1953)
MP for Bangalore North
27 May
2014
9 November
2014
166 days Bharatiya Janata Party Modi I Narendra Modi
37   Suresh Prabhu
(born 1953)
Rajya Sabha MP for Haryana, till 2016
Rajya Sabha MP for Andhra Pradesh, from 2016
9 November
2014
3 September
2017
2 years, 359 days
38   Piyush Goyal
(born 1964)
Rajya Sabha MP for Maharashtra
3 September
2017
30 May
2019
3 years, 307 days
31 May
2019
7 July
2021
Modi II
39   Ashwini Vaishnaw
(born 1970)
Rajya Sabha MP for Odisha
7 July
2021
Incumbent 2 years, 265 days

Ministers of State edit

  • Key: Assassinated or died in office
No. Portrait Minister
(Birth-Death)
Constituency
Term of office Political party Ministry Prime Minister
From To Period
Minister of State for Transport and Railways
1 K. Santhanam
(1895–1980)
MP for Madras (Constituent Assembly)
1 October
1948
29 May
1952
3 years, 241 days Indian National Congress Nehru I Jawaharlal Nehru
Minister of State for Railways
2   Ram Subhag Singh
(1917–1980)
MP for Bikramganj
13 May
1964
27 May
1964
2 years, 304 days Indian National Congress Nehru IV Jawaharlal Nehru
27 May
1964
9 June
1964
Nanda I Gulzarilal Nanda
(acting)
9 June
1964
11 January
1966
Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri
11 January
1966
24 January
1966
Nanda II Gulzarilal Nanda
(acting)
24 January
1966
13 March
1967
Indira I Indira Gandhi
3 Parimal Ghosh
(1917–1985)
MP for Ghatal
13 March
1967
17 October
1969
2 years, 218 days Indira II
4   Mohammad Shafi Qureshi
(1928–2016)
MP for Anantnag
10 October
1974
23 March
1977
2 years, 164 days Indian National Congress (R) Indira III Indira Gandhi
5 Surendra Pal Singh
(1917–2009)
MP for Bulandshahr
23 December
1976
24 March
1977
91 days
6 Sheo Narain
(1913–1987)
MP for Basti
14 August
1977
28 July
1979
1 year, 348 days Janata Party Desai Morarji Desai
7   C. K. Jaffer Sharief
(1933–2018)
MP for Bangalore North
14 January
1980
31 October
1984
4 years, 291 days Indian National Congress (I) Indira IV Indira Gandhi
8   Madhavrao Scindia
(1945–2001)
MP for Gwalior
31 December
1984
25 September
1985
268 days Rajiv II Rajiv Gandhi
Minister of State for Transport – Department of Railways
(8)   Madhavrao Scindia
(1945–2001)
MP for Gwalior
25 September
1985
22 October
1986
1 year, 27 days Indian National Congress (I) Rajiv II Rajiv Gandhi
Minister of State for Railways
9   Bhakta Charan Das
(born 1958)
MP for Kalahandi
21 November
1990
21 June
1991
212 days Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) Chandra Shekhar Chandra Shekhar
10 Mallikarjun Goud
(1941–2002)
MP for Mahabubnagar
21 June
1991
18 January
1993
1 year, 211 days Indian National Congress (I) Rao P. V. Narasimha Rao
11   Kahnu Charan Lenka
(born 1939)
Rajya Sabha MP for Odisha
18 January
1993
2 April
1994
1 year, 74 days
(10) Mallikarjun Goud
(1941–2002)
MP for Mahabubnagar
21 August
1995
19 September
1995
29 days
12   Suresh Kalmadi
(born 1944)
Rajya Sabha MP for Maharashtra
15 September
1995
16 May
1996
244 days
13   Satpal Maharaj
(born 1951)
MP for Garhwal
6 July
1996
21 April
1997
338 days All India Indira Congress (Tiwari) Deve Gowda H. D. Deve Gowda
21 April
1997
9 June
1997
Gujral Inder Kumar Gujral
14   Ram Naik
(born 1934)
MP for Mumbai North
19 March
1998
6 August
1999
1 year, 140 days Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee II Atal Bihari Vajpayee
15   Digvijay Singh
(1955–2010)
MP for Banka
13 October
1999
22 July
2001
1 year, 282 days Samata Party Vajpayee III
16 Bangaru Laxman
(1939–2014)
Rajya Sabha MP for Gujarat
22 November
1999
31 August
2000
283 days Bharatiya Janata Party
17   O. Rajagopal
(born 1929)
Rajya Sabha MP for Madhya Pradesh
31 August
2000
1 July
2002
1 year, 304 days
(15)   Digvijay Singh
(1955–2010)
MP for Banka
1 August
2001
1 July
2002
334 days Samata Party
18   A. K. Moorthy
(born 1964)
MP for Chengalpattu
1 July
2002
15 January
2004
1 year, 198 days Pattali Makkal Katchi
19   Bandaru Dattatreya
(born 1947)
MP for Secunderabad
1 July
2002
8 September
2003
1 year, 69 days Bharatiya Janata Party
20   Basangouda Patil Yatnal
(born 1963)
MP for Bijapur
8 September
2003
22 May
2004
257 days
21   Naranbhai Rathwa
(born 1953)
MP for Chhota Udaipur
23 May
2004
22 May
2009
4 years, 364 days Indian National Congress Manmohan I Manmohan Singh
22   R. Velu
(born 1940)
MP for Arakkonam
23 May
2004
29 March
2009
4 years, 310 days Pattali Makkal Katchi
23   E. Ahamed
(1938–2017)
MP for Malappuram
28 May
2009
19 January
2011
1 year, 236 days Indian Union Muslim League Manmohan II
24   K. H. Muniyappa
(born 1948)
MP for Kolar
28 May
2009
28 October
2012
3 years, 153 days Indian National Congress
25   Bharatsinh Solanki
(born 1953)
MP for Anand
19 January
2011
28 October
2012
1 year, 283 days
26   Mukul Roy
(born 1954)
Rajya Sabha MP for West Bengal
19 May
2011
12 July
2011
54 days All India Trinamool Congress
27   Kotla Jayasurya Prakasha Reddy
(born 1951)
MP for Kurnool
28 October
2012
26 May
2014
1 year, 210 days Indian National Congress
28   Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury
(born 1956)
MP for Baharampur
29   Manoj Sinha
(born 1959)
MP for Ghazipur
27 May
2014
30 May
2019
5 years, 3 days Bharatiya Janata Party Modi I Narendra Modi
30   Rajen Gohain
(born 1950)
MP for Nowgong
5 July
2016
30 May
2019
2 years, 329 days
31   Suresh Angadi
(1955–2020)
MP for Belgaum
31 May
2019
23 September
2020[†]
1 year, 115 days Modi II
32   Raosaheb Danve
(born 1955)
MP for Jalna
7 July
2021
Incumbent 2 years, 265 days
33   Darshana Jardosh
(born 1961)
MP for Surat

Deputy Ministers edit

No. Portrait Minister
(Birth-Death)
Constituency
Term of office Political party Ministry Prime Minister
From To Period
Deputy Minister for Transport and Railways
1   B. V. Keskar
(1903–1984)
MP for Madras (Constituent Assembly)
10 March
1952
13 May
1952
64 days Indian National Congress Nehru I Jawaharlal Nehru
2   O. V. Alagesan
(1911–1992)
MP for Chengalpattu
12 August
1952
16 April
1957
4 years, 247 days Nehru II
3   Shah Nawaz Khan
(1914–1993)
MP for Meerut
20 September
1956
17 April
1957
209 days
Deputy Minister for Railways
(3)   Shah Nawaz Khan
(1914–1993)
MP for Meerut
17 April
1957
10 April
1962
4 years, 358 days Indian National Congress Nehru III Jawaharlal Nehru
4 S. V. Ramaswamy
MP for Salem
2 April
1958
4 years, 8 days
(3)   Shah Nawaz Khan
(1914–1993)
MP for Meerut
16 April
1962
27 May
1964
2 years, 41 days Nehru III
(4) S. V. Ramaswamy
MP for Salem
(3)   Shah Nawaz Khan
(1914–1993)
MP for Meerut
27 May
1964
9 June
1964
13 days Nanda I Gulzarilal Nanda
(acting)
(4) S. V. Ramaswamy
MP for Salem
5 Sham Nath
MP for Chandni Chowk
15 June
1964
11 January
1966
2 years, 271 days Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri
11 January
1966
24 January
1966
Nanda II Gulzarilal Nanda
(acting)
24 January
1966
13 March
1967
Indira I Indira Gandhi
6   S. C. Jamir
(born 1931)
MP for Nagaland
13 March
1967
14 November
1967
246 days Indira II
7 Rohanlal Chaturvedi
(1919–?)
MP for Etah
14 November
1967
18 March
1971
3 years, 124 days
8   Mohammad Yunus Saleem
(1912–2004)
MP for Nalgonda
27 June
1970
18 March
1971
264 days Indian National Congress (R)
9   Mohammad Shafi Qureshi
(1928–2016)
Anantnag
2 May
1971
10 October
1974
3 years, 161 days Indira III
10   Buta Singh
(1934–2021)
MP for Ropar
10 October
1974
23 December
1976
2 years, 74 days
Deputy Minister for Railways
11   Mahaveer Prasad
(1939–2010)
MP for Bansgaon
14 February
1988
4 July
1989
1 year, 140 days Indian National Congress (I) Rajiv II Rajiv Gandhi
12 Ajay Singh
(1950–2020)
MP for Agra
23 April
1990
10 November
1990
201 days Janata Dal Vishwanath V. P. Singh
Position not in use since 10 November 1990

Trivia edit

References edit

  • Railway Ministers of Independent India at the Indian Railways Fan Club.

External links edit

  •   Media related to Ministers of Railways of India at Wikimedia Commons