List of longest-serving members of the Union Council of Ministers

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Jagjivan Ram is India's longest serving Union Minister Jagjivan Ram 1991 stamp of India.jpg
Jagjivan Ram is India's longest serving Union Minister

The following is a list of the longest-serving ministers of the Union Council of Ministers of India, listing those individuals who served at least a decade in Union ministries. As of October 2025, 87 Union ministers have served for at least 10 years in office, including 19 who served for 15 years or more and five who served for at least 20 years. As ministers often hold multiple portfolios during their respective tenures, only their final portfolios and the periods they served in their ranks are displayed here. Party affiliations are those held during the tenure (s) in office of each respective officeholder. Since the first Union Council was established in 1947, its members have been categorised into the following five ranks (in descending order): [1]

Contents

Ministers in the first three ranks comprise the Union Cabinet, which is the supreme decision-making body of the nation per Article 75 of the Constitution. Regardless of rank, any member of the Union Council is a Union minister, per the Salaries and Allowances of Ministers Act 1952. [1]

When multiple Union ministers have been sworn into office from the same date, they are listed in the order they were administered their oaths of office and secrecy, beginning with the Prime Minister. Union ministers who have served in multiple Union Ministries are listed in order of seniority, i.e. a Cabinet Minister in one Union ministry who remains a Cabinet Minister in a subsequent Union ministry is listed before a Minister of State who was subsequently promoted to the rank of a Cabinet Minister.

List

Key


See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Not including service as cabinet minister during the Interim Government of India from 2 September 1946 – 15 August 1947 (11 months and 13 days).
  2. ↑ With Cabinet rank from 14 February 1956 – 17 April 1957.
  3. ↑ With Independent charge from 21 June 1991 – 7 July 1992.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 As of 26 October 2025.
  5. ↑ With Independent charge from 26 May 2014.
  6. ↑ With Cabinet rank from 7 December 1954 – 17 April 1957.
  7. ↑ With Independent charge from 15 January 1982 – 29 January 1983, and from 25 June 1988 – 2 December 1989.
  8. ↑ With Independent charge from 29 January 1983 – 31 October 1984, and from 4 November 1984 – 15 February 1988.
  9. ↑ With Independent charge from 23 May 2004.
  10. ↑ With Independent charge from 15 January 1982.
  11. ↑ With Independent charge from 20 January 1986 – 6 February 1988, and from 21 June 1991 – 10 February 1995.
  12. ↑ With Cabinet rank from 12 August 1952 – 13 June 1956.
  13. ↑ and Minister of Finance from 13 March 1967 – 16 July 1969.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 With Independent charge.
  15. ↑ With Independent charge from 30 May 2019
  16. ↑ With Independent charge until 18 May 2023.
  17. ↑ With Independent charge 4 November–31 December 1984.
  18. ↑ With Cabinet rank 17–25 April 1957.
  19. ↑ With Cabinet rank 13 June 1956 – 16 April 1957, and from 25 April 1957 – 10 April 1962.
  20. ↑ With Independent charge from 21 November 1990 – 21 June 1991, and from 19 March 1998 – 1 July 2002.
  21. ↑ With additional charge of Rural Development from 7 July 2021.
  22. ↑ With Cabinet rank 14 February 1956 – 17 April 1957.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Council of Ministers (1947–2015) (PDF). Lok Sabha Secretariat. 2016.
  2. ↑ "Press Communique: Council of Ministers Allocation of Portfolios" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 27 June 1970. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "President's Secretariat: Press Communique". Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 10 June 2024. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "President's Secretariat: President appoints Cabinet Ministers, Ministers of State (Independent Charge) and Ministers of State". Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 26 May 2014. Archived from the original on 27 November 2024. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "President's Secretariat: PRESS COMMUNIQUE - President of India allocates portfolios of the Council of Ministers". Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 3 September 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  6. ↑ "President's Secretariat: Press Communique". Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 7 July 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  7. ↑ "President's Secretariat: Press Communique". Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 5 July 2016. Archived from the original on 27 December 2024. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
  8. ↑ "President's Secretariat: Press Communique". Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 30 May 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
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