Ashwini Vaishnaw

Ashwini Vaishnaw, who took over as the Union Railways Minister in 2021, has come under the spotlight after a triple train accident claimed 275 lives in Odisha’s Balasore district on June 2 (Friday). The accident involved Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Coromandel Express, and the goods train on three separate tracks at Bahanaga Bazar Station.

The Union Minister, who has been spearheading the government's introduction of modern locomotives, has come under attack for the major security and safety lapse which led to the mishap in which more than 1,000 people have sustained injuries.

The Opposition parties including the Congress and the TMC are trading guns on Vaishnaw for the 'mismanagement' on his part and are seeking his resignation.

However, Railways Minister Vaishnaw has said that the root cause of the accident was identified and it was because of change in electronic interlocking. "The change that was done to electronic interlocking which led to the accident has been identified," Vaishnaw said while denying that the incident had anything to do with the anti-collision system “Kavach”.

Vaishnaw, a former IAS officer and a member of the Rajya Sabha representing Odisha since 2019, was born on July 18, 1970 in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. He did his schooling from Kendriya Vidyalaya, Jodhpur and graduated in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur in 1991. He then went on to do an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1993.

After completing his MBA, Vaishnaw joined the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1994. He served in various capacities in the Odisha cadre, including as District Magistrate of Balasore and Cuttack. He was also the Secretary of the Department of Electronics and IT in the Government of Odisha.

In 2017, Vaishnaw was appointed as the Additional Secretary to the Prime Minister. In this role, he was responsible for coordinating the Prime Minister's initiatives on infrastructure, technology, and innovation. He was also the Prime Minister's point person for the G20 summit in 2019.

In 2019, Vaishnaw was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Odisha. In this role as the Minister of Railways, he has overseen the introduction of several new initiatives, including the Vande Bharat Express. He has also been at the forefront of improving the safety and efficiency of the Indian Railways.

In 2022, Vaishnaw was also appointed as the Minister of Communications and Electronics & Information Technology. In this role, he has been responsible for overseeing the rollout of 5G services in India. He has also been working to promote the use of technology in the government and in the private sector. He has been actively involved in the rollout of initiatives like Digital India, BharatNet, and the National Digital Health Mission.