Dr Ashwini Vaishnav, who was inducted into the Union Cabinet on Wednesday evening, will be the new Union Minister of Railways. He will also head the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
Dr Ashwini Vaishnaw may not be a household name but he is an emerging star of the Modi government.
Vaishnaw, who has made a straight entry into the Union Cabinet without any stint as Minister of State, is a former IAS officer holding degrees from IIT Kanpur and Wharton Business School, and a BJP Rajya Sabha member from Odisha since 2019.
An engineer, CEO, IAS officer, entrepreneur, and finally a politician, he also did a stint in the PMO when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister.
Vaishnaw served as a Collector in Odisha's Balasore and Cuttack districts. While a Collector in Balasore, the National Human Rights Commission placed on record its appreciation of the sincerity, dedication, and commitment displayed by Vaishnaw in organising and executing relief and rehabilitation work in his district.
He worked in Odisha till 2003, when he was appointed as Deputy Secretary in the office of then Prime Minister Vajpayee.
On completing his MBA in the US, Vaishnaw came back to India, 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 quit the corporate sector and set up Three Tee Auto Logistics Private Ltd and Vee Gee Auto Components Private Ltd, both automotive components manufacturing units in Gujarat.
(With IANS inputs)
