Entrepreneur Turned Politician Ashwini Vaishnaw Leads As Cabinet Minister Of Communications and IT

The cabinet reshuffle in 2021 by Narendra Modi led to senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad who was handling the Ministry of Electronics and IT since 2014 being replaced by Ashwini Vaishnaw who was appointed as the new Railways and IT Minister. Vaishnaw quit IAS to earn an MBA from Wharton University before becoming an entrepreneur, to steer two crucial ministries like Railways, which has domestic implications, Communications and Information and Technology that creates not ripples but waves nationally as well as internationally. One of his main tasks includes bringing normalcy in the relationship between the government and social media giants while not giving much leeway to the latter.

One who entered the civil services at the age of 24, before bagging a gold medal in BTech (Electronics and Communication) and then MTech from IIT Kanpur, the then Odisha cadre officer shot to fame for his work during the Super Cyclone in 1999. Vaishnaw, who was also the Collector of Balasore and Cuttack, regularly monitored the US Navy website to understand the development of the cyclone and informed the Chief Secretary's office helping them to design the relief work. He was also credited for his work in formulating the Public-Private Participation framework for the infrastructure sector.

Later, in 2003, he moved to the Centre to serve as a Deputy Secretary in AB Vajpayee's PMO and became the former Prime Minister's Private Secretary after the BJP lost the 2004 Lok Sabha polls. Two years later, he was Deputy Chairman of Mormugao Port Trust where he worked till 2008 before moving to Wharton for his MBA. He quit civil services soon and joined the corporate sector and became Managing Director in GE Transportation and Vice President in Siemens Locomotives before quitting to turn entrepreneur and later to enter politics. 

The new minister who took charge on July 8 held review meetings of various projects under the Meity including the supercomputing projects being handled by CDAC on Saturday. He believes that outstanding work has been done in the railways over the past 67 years and he intends to take the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi forward.

His extremely satisfactory credentials provide enough reason to believe in his vision and work in both the railway and the IT department.