Ministry of Railways (India)

The first railway track was operational in Madras in 1837 and the first passenger train ran in Bombay in 1853. But the earlier railways were operated by private companies with the earliest being the Madras Railway established in 1845 and the Great Indian Peninsular Railway incorporated in 1849. In October 1901, the Secretary of State for India in Council appointed Thomas Robertson as a special commissioner for Indian Railways to prepare a report on the administration of Indian Railways. In his report in 1903, Thomas recommended setting up of a three-member Railway Board headed by a chief commissioner. In 1908, the set up was re-organized on the recommendations of the Railway Finance Committee (1908) by constituting the railway board headed by a president as a separate department. In 1944, all the railway companies were taken over by the Government. The ministry of railways was part of the Ministry of Transport after the independence in 1947 and John Mathai served as its first minister from 1947 till 1948. On 17 April 1957, Jagjivan Ram became the first to head the standalone Minister of Railways. In October 1954, the chairman of the board was made responsible for decisions on technical and policy matters, with the status of a principal secretary to the Government of India with an additional member added. 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 the Ministry of Transport and Bansi Lal, who served as the Railways Minister prior to the merger became the first holder of the new office. However, on 22 October 1986, the Ministry of Railways was again separated into an independent ministry and has been the same since then. In 2004, the board is expanded by the introduction of two new members responsible for signalling & telecom and for stores respectively. In December 2019, the Union Cabinet decided to reduce the size of the board from eight to five. Railway Budget The first railway budget was presented in 1924. The last Railway Budget was presented on 25 February 2016 and on 21 September 2016, Government of India approved merger of the rail and general budgets from 2017. The railway budget was estimated to be for the financial year 2023–24. == Organisation ==

The ministry has a union minister and one or more ministers of state. The railway board reports to the union ministry with the directorates of traction, engineering, traffic, rolling stock, signalling, materials, personnel, Railway Protection Force (RPF), finance, health and safety reporting to the board. Indian Railways is a statutory body that reports to parliament and is under the ownership of ministry of railways. Indian Railways is further divided into 18 administrative zones (17 operational), headed by general managers who report to the board along with the heads of other institutions and undertakings owned by the Indian Railways. Also part of the board are four director generals responsible for human resources, health, RPF and safety respectively. Statutory Bodies/Public Sector Undertakings • Rail India Technical and Economic Service • Rail Land Development Authority • IRCON International • IRCON Renewable Power Limited • Rail Vikas Nigam Limited • Indian Railways Finance Corporation • SIDCUL CONCOR Infra Company Ltd., a JV of SIDCUL and CONCOR • Krishnapatnam Railway Company Limited, a JV of RVNL, Sagarmala Development Company, NMDC, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh, etc. • Centre for Railway Information Systems • Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited Society • Indian Railway Welfare Organisation == Railway Budget ==

The first railway budget was presented in 1924. The last Railway Budget was presented on 25 February 2016 and on 21 September 2016, Government of India approved merger of the rail and general budgets from 2017. The railway budget is estimated to be for the financial year 2023–24. == Railway ministers ==

The Minister of Railways (Hindi: ) is the head of the ministry and a 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 is often assisted by one or two junior Ministers of State. John Mathai was the first Minister of Railways. Lal Bahadur Shastri who served as the Minister of Railways and Transport from 1952 until 1956 became the second Prime Minister of India in 1964. Four prime ministers, namely Rajiv Gandhi, P. V. Narasimha Rao, Atal Bihari Vajpayee (twice) and Manmohan Singh (twice) have briefly held the portfolio of the Minister of Railways during their premiership. Mohsina Kidwai was the first female to hold the charge of the ministry (as Minister of Surface Transport) while Mamata Banerjee is the first female to have served as the Minister of Railways. while Suresh Angadi is the only minister of state to die in office. The current Minister of Railways is Ashwini Vaishnaw of the Bharatiya Janata Party who has been in office since 7 July 2021 while V. Somanna and Ravneet Singh are the ministers of state for railways. Cabinet Ministers • Key: Assassinated or died in office • Note: MoS, I/C Minister of State (Independent Charge) Ministers of State • Key: Assassinated or died in office Deputy Ministers == Length of Tenure ==

Cabinet Ministers == Criticism and controversies ==

On 14 February 2008, Westinghouse Air Brake, admitted to a US federal court of violating Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) regulations by making improper payments from its subsidiary Pioneer Friction based in Kolkata, to government officials of the Indian railway board to obtain and retain business with the Railway Board and curb taxes. On 3 May 2013, the CBI arrested then minister of railways Pawan Kumar Bansal's nephew, Vijay Singla for accepting an alleged bribe of from a middleman for the appointment of a particular person to the railway board. The railway board clarified that no rules had been broken during the appointment and suspended Mahesh, the person concerned. == References ==