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 June 2024, 83 Union ministers have served for at least 10 years in office, including 18 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]
Ministers of State (without membership of the Union Cabinet), in the following sub-categories:
Ministers of State with Cabinet rank
Ministers of State with Independent Charge of ministries/portfolios
Ministers of State, reporting to the Prime Minister or to a Cabinet Minister
Deputy Ministers (equivalent to Parliamentary Secretaries). Deputy Ministers have not been appointed since 1993.[1]
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.
A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authority wherein ministers without portfolio, while they may not head any particular offices or ministries, may still receive a ministerial salary and have the right to cast a vote in cabinet decisions. The office may also exist to give party leaders whose offices would not otherwise enable them to sit in Cabinet.
A cabinet secretary is usually a senior official who provides services and advice to a cabinet of ministers as part of the Cabinet Office. In many countries, the position can have considerably wider functions and powers, including general responsibility for the entire civil service.
Ramaswamy Venkataraman was an Indian lawyer, Indian independence activist and politician who served as a Union Minister and as the eighth president of India. Venkataraman was born in Rajamadam village in Tanjore district, Madras Presidency. He studied law and practised in the Madras High Court and the Supreme Court of India. In his young age, he was an activist of the Indian independence movement and participated in the Quit India Movement. He was appointed as the member of the Constituent Assembly and the provisional cabinet. He was elected to the Lok Sabha four times and served as Union Finance Minister and Defence Minister. In 1984, he was elected as the seventh vice president of India and in 1987, he became the eighth President of India and served from 1987 to 1992. He also served as a State minister under K. Kamaraj and M. Bhaktavatsalam.
The Union Council of Ministers, also called Union Cabinet is the principal executive organ of the Government of India, which functions as the senior decision-making body of the executive branch. It is chaired by the prime minister and consists of the heads of each of the executive government ministries. Currently, the council is headed by prime minister Narendra Modi and consists of 29 members, including the prime minister. The council is subject to the Parliament of India.
The Cabinet Secretariat is responsible for the administration of the Government of India. It provides secretarial assistance to the Cabinet of India and facilitates smooth transaction of business between Ministries and Departments of the Government. It functions from the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Raisina Hill in New Delhi.
Prakash Keshav Javadekar is an Indian politician and former parliamentarian. He served as the Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change two times, from May 2014 to July 2016 and from May 2019 to July 2021.
The First Manmohan Singh ministry was the first Union Council of Ministers of India under the Prime Ministership of Manmohan Singh. It was formed after the 2004 Indian general election held in four phases during 20 April - 10 May 2004, to elect the 14th Lok Sabha, and it functioned from 2004 to May 2009. After the election Singh took the oath as the Prime Minister of India on 22 May 2004, and continued to hold the post till full term, the next Council of Ministers of the Republic of India was sworn in on 22 May 2009, when Singh started his second term in office as PM.
The Minister of Railways is the head of the Ministry of Railways and a senior 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 has occasionally been held by a minister of state with independent charge. The cabinet ministers are often assisted by one or two junior ministers, or the Ministers of State for Railways.
The Cabinet Secretary is the top-most executive official and senior-most civil servant of the Government of India. The Cabinet Secretary is the ex-officio head of the Civil Services Board, the Cabinet Secretariat, the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), and all Civil Services of India work under the rules of business of the government.
The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) consists of the immediate staff of the Prime Minister of India, as well as multiple levels of support staff reporting to the Prime Minister. The PMO is headed by the Principal Secretary, currently Pramod Kumar Mishra. The PMO was originally called the Prime Minister's Secretariat until 1977, when it was renamed during the Morarji Desai ministry.
Manubhai Shah was an Indian politician who played an important political and developmental role in independent India for over half a century. He was the inugural minister of Ministry of Heavy Industries.
Lal Bahadur Shastri was sworn in as Prime Minister of India on 9 June 1964. In his ministry, the ministers were as follows.
The First Indira Gandhi ministry was formed on 24 January 1966 under the premiership of Indira Gandhi who was elected as the Prime Minister of India by the Congress Parliamentary Party to succeed Gulzarilal Nanda who was serving as the acting prime minister since 11 January 1966 following the untimely demise of Lal Bahadur Shastri. The cabinet remained in office until the 1967 general election in which Indira Gandhi was re-elected to office.
The First Narendra Modi ministry is the Council of Ministers headed by Narendra Modi that was formed after the 2014 general election which was held in nine phases from 7 April to 12 May in 2014. The results of the election were announced on 16 May 2014 and this led to the formation of the 16th Lok Sabha. The Council assumed office from 27 May 2014.
Jawaharlal Nehru was sworn in as Prime Minister of India on 15 August 1947. After first Indian general election, Nehru became the first democratically elected Prime Minister of the country and his second term started on 15 April 1952. In his ministry upon reelection, the ministers were as follows.
The Third Jawaharlal Nehru ministry was formed on 17 April 1957 after the Indian National Congress won the 1957 general election with a vast majority.
The Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare is the head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare and a key 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 for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare and previously by a further junior minister of the Deputy Minister of Agriculture.
The Minister of Road Transport and Highways 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.
The Second Narendra Modi ministry was the Council of Ministers headed by Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi that was formed after the 2019 general election which was held in seven phases in 2019. The results of the election were announced on 23 May 2019 and this led to the formation of the 17th Lok Sabha. The oath ceremony was arranged in the courtyards of Rashtrapati Bhavan at Raisina Hill. The heads of the states of BIMSTEC countries were invited as guests of honor for this ceremony.
The Minister of Communications is the head of the Ministry of Communications 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.
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