Former Bureaucrat Ashwini Vaishnaw gets Railways, IT ministry

New Delhi, July 07: Bureaucrat-turned-politician Ashwinin Vaishnaw will be the new Railways Minister. He has also been given the charge of Ministry of Communications and Information.

Vaishnaw is a Rajya Sabha MP for Odisha The former IAS officer joined BJP in June 2019.

Who is Ashwini Vaishnaw?

A former IAS officer of the 1994-batch Odisha cadre, shot to fame as an administrator when he was posted as the Collector of Balasore district in 1999. Vaishnaw was private secretary to prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2004.

Vaishnav has enjoyed cordial relations with Patnaik, whose Biju Janata Dal (BJD) was an ally of the BJP during the Vajpayee era.

He handled important responsibilities over 15 years and was particularly known for his contribution to the PPP framework in Infrastructure.

Post that, he has held leadership roles across major global companies such as General Electric and Siemens.

In 2006, he became deputy chairman of Mormugao Port Trust, where he worked for next 2 years

In July 2008, Vaishnaw went to study business management in Wharton School of Business, US. The next year, he sought voluntary retirement from IAS.

He has a MBA from Wharton School, Pennysylvania University and MTech from IIT Kanpur.

He is currently Member of Indian Parliament representing Odisha State in the Rajya Sabha. He won the Rajya Sabha election unopposed with the help of Biju Janata Dal members in Odisha.[13][14] Vaishnaw was appointed as member of Committee on Subordinate Legislation and Petitions and Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests.