Ashwini Vaishnaw takes charge as Railway, IT minister: Ex- IAS officer and IITian brings wealth of corporate experience

Odisha Rajya Sabha MP Ashwini Vaishnaw was allotted the Railways and IT portfolios following a Cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday. In the first Cabinet rejig since the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Central government came to power for a second time in 2019, Vaishnaw took charge of the Railways ministry from Piyush Goyal and IT ministry from Ravi Shankar Prasad. Along with Ravi Shankar Prasad, Harsh Vardhan and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank were the other top Union ministers who resigned from the Cabinet and were not given other ministerial berths. So who is the new Railway and IT minister and what are the challenges he faces as he enters the cabinet berths? Here are some facts about Ashwini Vaishnaw:

• Vaishnaw, a BJP member in the Rajya Sabha from Odisha since 2019, has no ministerial experience. He was inducted into the saffron party barely six days ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections on 28 June, 2019
• The 51-year-old former IAS officer in Odisha cadre, Ashwini served as the Collector of Balasore and Cuttack. His bureaucratic acumen came to the fore when the super cyclone hit Odisha in 1999, killing at least 10,000 people.
• As a collector of the coastal Balasore district, Vaishnaw collected information on the cyclone from a US Navy website and sent reports to the chief secretary at regular intervals. His information helped the state government to take advanced measures in order to save lives. He worked in the administrative services in Odisha till 2003.
• He later joined former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s office as the deputy secretary. He was also appointed as Vajpayee’s private secretary after the NDA lost the election in 2004. He quit government service in 2008 to pursue higher studies.
• An MBA and MTech graduate, he is an alumnus of the IIT Kanpur and Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. On completing his MBA, Vaishnaw quit the IAS in 2010 and joined GE Transportation as Managing Director. Then he joined Siemens as the Vice President, Locomotives & Head, Urban Infrastructure Strategy.
• In 2012, he set up Three Tee Auto Logistics Private Ltd and Vee Gee Auto Components Private Ltd, which were automotive components manufacturing units in Gujarat.
• He handled important responsibilities for over 15 years and was particularly known for his contribution to the public-private partnership (PPP) framework in infrastructure, something that will help him in the rail sector.
• As the country’s new railway minister, one of his biggest challenges will be to successfully see the operationalisation of private trains on the railway network for the first time in Indian history. He will also be instrumental in overseeing the cadre restructuring, which has already been initiated by his predecessor Piyush Goyal.
• In April, Vaishnaw was nominated as a member of the Press Council of India, for a duration of three years.

With inputs from PTI