Minister of Railways

The Minister of Railways 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. 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 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.