Minister of Road Transport and Highways
The Minister of Road Transport and Highways (Hindi: सड़क परिवहन और राजमार्ग मंत्री) is the head of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and a senior member of the union council of ministers of the Government of India. The portfolio is usually held by a minister with cabinet rank who is a senior member of the council of ministers and is often assisted by one or two junior ministers or the Ministers of State.
| Minister of Road Transport and Highways | |
|---|---|
| सड़क परिवहन और राजमार्ग मंत्री Sadak Parivahan aur Rajmarg Mantrī | |
Emblem of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways | |
| Ministry of Road Transport and Highways | |
| Member of | Cabinet of India |
| Reports to | President of India Prime Minister of India Parliament of India |
| Appointer | President of India on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of India |
| Formation | 1947 (as Ministry of Transport) 7 November 2000 (current form) |
| First holder | John Mathai (as Minister of Transport) B. C. Khanduri (as Minister of Road Transport and Highways) |
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The current minister is Nitin Gadkari who has been serving in office since 27 May 2014 and is currently assisted by V. K. Singh as the Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways.
Two future presidents- Neelam Sanjiva Reddy and Pranab Mukherjee served as ministers in the ministry. Reddy was Cabinet Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation from 1966 till 1967 while Mukherjee was Deputy Minister of Shipping and Transport in 1974. One future prime minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri served as Minister of Transport and Railways from 1952 till 1956 and as Minister of Transport and Communications from 1957 till 1958. Five prime ministers - Morarji Desai (in 1977), Rajiv Gandhi (in 1986), Chandra Shekhar (in 1991), Atal Bihari Vajpayee (in 1996 and in 2000) and Manmohan Singh (in 2013) held the charge of the ministry during their premierships. The current minister Nitin Gadkari holds the record of being the longest-serving minister in the ministry with a tenure of more than nine years.