Minister of Communications (India) explained

Post:	Minister of Communications
Native Name:	Hindi: संचार मंत्री
Insignia:	File:Ministry of Communications India.svg
Insigniasize:	235
Insigniacaption:	Emblem of the Ministry of Communications
Incumbent:	Jyotiraditya Scindia
Department:	Ministry of Communications
Member Of:	Cabinet of India
Reports To:	Prime Minister of India Parliament of India
Appointer:	President of India
Appointer Qualified:	on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of India
Formation:	(as Ministry of Communications) (current form)
First:	Rafi Ahmed Kidwai

The Minister of Communications (Hindi: संचार मंत्री) 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.

The current minister is Jyotiraditya Scindia who has been serving in office since 10 June 2024 and is currently assisted by Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar as the Minister of State for Communications.

One future president - Shankar Dayal Sharma served as minister in the ministry. Sharma was Cabinet Minister for Communications from 1974 until 1977. Two future prime ministers, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Inder Kumar Gujral also served as ministers in the ministry. Shastri was Cabinet Minister for Transport and Communications from 1957 until 1958, while Gujral was Minister of State for Communications from 1967 until 1971.

History

The Ministry of Communications came into existence soon after India's independence in the First Nehru ministry formed on 15 August 1947. Rafi Ahmed Kidwai was appointed as the first Minister of Communications and served until 1951. The ministry was merged with the Ministry of Transport to form the "Ministry of Transport and Communications" on 17 April 1957 in the Third Nehru ministry. Lal Bahadur Shastri was appointed as the minister in the newly-formed ministry. The ministry was bifurcated on 31 August 1963 into the Ministry of Transport and the Department of Posts and Telegraphs. The "Department of Posts and Telegraphs" became the Ministry of Communications on 13 May 1964.

On 22 December 2001, the Ministry of Communications and the Ministry of Information Technology were merged to form the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.^[1] The ministry was further bifurcated on 5 July 2016 into the Ministry of Communications and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. The two ministries have since then existed independently.

Cabinet Ministers

^[2]

	Portrait		Minister	Term of office			Political party	Ministry	Prime Minister
				From	To	Period
Minister of Communications
1			Rafi Ahmed Kidwai	15 August 1947	2 August 1951		Indian National Congress	Nehru I		Jawaharlal Nehru
2			Amrit Kaur	2 August 1951	13 May 1952
3			Jagjivan Ram	13 May 1952	7 December 1956			Nehru II
4			Raj Bahadur (MoS)	7 December 1956	17 April 1957
Minister of Posts and Telegraph
5			Ashoke Kumar Sen	1 September 1963	13 May 1964		Indian National Congress	Nehru IV		Jawaharlal Nehru
Minister of Communications
(5)			Ashoke Kumar Sen	13 May 1964	27 May 1964		Indian National Congress	Nehru IV		Jawaharlal Nehru
				27 May 1964	9 June 1964			Nanda I		Gulzarilal Nanda
				9 June 1964	13 June 1964			Shastri		Lal Bahadur Shastri
6			Satya Narayan Sinha	13 June 1964	11 January 1966
				11 January 1966	24 January 1966			Nanda II		Gulzarilal Nanda
				24 January 1966	13 March 1967			Indira I		Indira Gandhi
7			Ram Subhag Singh	13 March 1967	14 February 1969
(6)			Satya Narayan Sinha	14 February 1969	8 March 1971		Indian National Congress (R)
			Indira Gandhi (Prime Minister)	8 March 1971	18 March 1971
8			Sher Singh Kadyan (MoS)	18 March 1971	2 May 1971			Indira III
9			Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna (MoS)	2 May 1971	8 November 1973
(4)			Raj Bahadur	8 November 1973	11 January 1974
10			Kasu Brahmananda Reddy	11 January 1974	10 October 1974
11			Shankar Dayal Sharma	10 October 1974	24 March 1977
			Morarji Desai (Prime Minister)	24 March 1977	26 March 1977		Janata Party	Desai		Morarji Desai
12			Parkash Singh Badal	26 March 1977	27 March 1977		Shiromani Akali Dal
13			George Fernandes	27 March 1977	6 July 1977		Janata Party
14			Brij Lal Varma	6 July 1977	28 July 1979
			Charan Singh (Prime Minister)	28 July 1979	30 July 1979		Janata Party (Secular)	Charan		Charan Singh
15			Zulfiquarullah (MoS)	30 July 1979	27 November 1979
			Charan Singh (Prime Minister)	27 November 1979	7 December 1979
16			Shyam Nandan Prasad Mishra	7 December 1979	14 January 1980
			Indira Gandhi (Prime Minister)	14 January 1980	16 January 1980		Indian National Congress (I)	Indira IV		Indira Gandhi
17			Bhishma Narain Singh	16 January 1980	3 March 1980
18			C. M. Stephen	3 March 1980	2 September 1982
19			Anant Sharma	2 September 1982	14 February 1983
			Indira Gandhi (Prime Minister)	14 February 1983	31 October 1984
			Rajiv Gandhi (Prime Minister)	31 October 1984	4 November 1984			Rajiv I		Rajiv Gandhi
20			Ram Niwas Mirdha	31 December 1984	22 October 1986			Rajiv II
21			Arjun Singh	22 October 1986	14 February 1988
22			Vasant Sathe	14 February 1988	25 June 1988
23			Bir Bahadur Singh	25 June 1988	30 May 1989
			Rajiv Gandhi (Prime Minister)	31 May 1989	4 July 1989
24			Giridhar Gamang (MoS, I/C)	4 July 1989	2 December 1989
			Vishwanath Pratap Singh (Prime Minister)	2 December 1989	6 December 1989		Janata Dal	Vishwanath		Vishwanath Pratap Singh
25			K. P. Unnikrishnan	6 December 1989	23 April 1990
26			Janeshwar Mishra (MoS, I/C)	23 April 1990	5 November 1990
			Vishwanath Pratap Singh (Prime Minister)	6 November 1990	10 November 1990
			Chandra Shekhar (Prime Minister)	10 November 1990	21 November 1990		Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya)	Chandra Shekhar		Chandra Shekhar
27			Sanjaya Sinh (MoS, I/C)	21 November 1990	21 June 1991
28			Rajesh Pilot (MoS, I/C)	21 June 1991	18 January 1993		Indian National Congress (I)	Rao		P. V. Narasimha Rao
29			Sukh Ram (MoS, I/C)	18 January 1993	16 May 1996
			Atal Bihari Vajpayee (Prime Minister)	16 May 1996	1 June 1996		Bharatiya Janata Party	Vajpayee I		Atal Bihari Vajpayee
			H. D. Deve Gowda (Prime Minister)	1 June 1996	29 June 1996		Janata Dal	Deve Gowda		H. D. Deve Gowda
30			Beni Prasad Verma (MoS, I/C until 10 July 1996)	29 June 1996	21 April 1997		Samajwadi Party
				21 April 1997	19 March 1998			Gujral		Inder Kumar Gujral
31			Buta Singh	19 March 1998	20 April 1998		Independent	Vajpayee II		Atal Bihari Vajpayee
32			Sushma Swaraj	20 April 1998	11 October 1998		Bharatiya Janata Party
			Atal Bihari Vajpayee (Prime Minister)	11 October 1998	5 December 1998
33			Jagmohan	5 December 1998	8 June 1999
			Atal Bihari Vajpayee (Prime Minister)	8 June 1999	13 October 1999
34			Ram Vilas Paswan	13 October 1999	1 September 2001		Janata Dal (United)	Vajpayee III
							Lok Janshakti Party
35			Pramod Mahajan	1 September 2001	22 December 2001		Bharatiya Janata Party
Minister of Communications and Information Technology
(35)			Pramod Mahajan	22 December 2001	29 January 2003		Bharatiya Janata Party	Vajpayee III		Atal Bihari Vajpayee
36			Arun Shourie	29 January 2003	22 May 2004
37			Dayanidhi Maran	23 May 2004	15 May 2007		Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	Manmohan I		Manmohan Singh
38			A. Raja	15 May 2007	22 May 2009
			Manmohan Singh (Prime Minister)	22 May 2009	28 May 2009		Indian National Congress	Manmohan II
(38)			A. Raja	28 May 2009	15 November 2010		Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
39			Kapil Sibal	15 November 2010	26 May 2014		Indian National Congress
40			Ravi Shankar Prasad	27 May 2014	5 July 2016		Bharatiya Janata Party	Modi I		Narendra Modi
Minister of Communications
41			Manoj Sinha	5 July 2016	30 May 2019		Bharatiya Janata Party	Modi I		Narendra Modi
(40)			Ravi Shankar Prasad	31 May 2019	7 July 2021			Modi II
42			Ashwini Vaishnaw	7 July 2021	9 June 2024
43			Jyotiraditya Scindia	12 June 2024	Incumbent			Modi III

Ministers of State

	Portrait		Minister	Term of office			Political party	Ministry	Prime Minister
				From	To	Period
Minister of State of Communications
1			Raj Bahadur	14 February 1956	7 December 1956		Indian National Congress	Nehru II		Jawaharlal Nehru
Minister of State of Communications
2			Jagannath Rao	14 February 1966	13 March 1967		Indian National Congress	Indira I		Indira Gandhi
5			Inder Kumar Gujral	18 March 1967	18 March 1971			Indira II
							Indian National Congress (R)
6			Sher Singh Kadyan	14 February 1969	18 March 1971
(6)			Sher Singh Kadyan	12 January 1974	10 October 1974		Indian National Congress (R)
7			Narhari Prasad Sai	14 August 1977	28 July 1979		Janata Party	Desai		Morarji Desai
8			Narsingh Yadav	30 July 1979	14 January 1980		Janata Party (Secular)	Charan		Charan Singh
9			Tukaram Shrangare	31 July 1979	14 January 1980
10			Kartik Oraon	8 June 1980	8 December 1981		Indian National Congress (I)	Indira IV		Indira Gandhi
11			Yogendra Makwana	15 January 1982	29 January 1983
12			Vitthalrao Gadgil	29 January 1983	31 October 1984
				4 November 1984	31 December 1984			Rajiv I		Rajiv Gandhi
13			Giridhar Gamang	25 June 1988	4 July 1989		Indian National Congress (I)	Rajiv II
14			Beni Prasad Verma	1 June 1996	29 June 1996		Samajwadi Party	Deve Gowda		H. D. Deve Gowda
15			Kabindra Purkayastha	20 March 1998	13 October 1999		Bharatiya Janata Party	Vajpayee II		Atal Bihari Vajpayee
16			Tapan Sikdar	13 October 1999	22 December 2001			Vajpayee III
Minister of State of Communications and Information Technology
(16)			Tapan Sikdar	22 December 2001	1 July 2002		Bharatiya Janata Party	Vajpayee III		Atal Bihari Vajpayee
17			Sumitra Mahajan	1 July 2002	24 May 2003
18			Sanjay Paswan	1 July 2002	29 January 2003
18			Su. Thirunavukkarasar	29 January 2003	22 May 2004
19			Ashok Kumar Pradhan	24 May 2003	22 May 2004
20			Shakeel Ahmad	23 May 2004	6 April 2008		Indian National Congress	Manmohan I		Manmohan Singh
21			Jyotiraditya Scindia	6 April 2008	22 May 2009
22			Gurudas Kamat	28 May 2009	19 January 2011			Manmohan II
23			Sachin Pilot	28 May 2009	28 October 2012
(22)			Gurudas Kamat	21 January 2011	12 July 2011
24			Milind Deora	12 July 2011	26 May 2014
25			Killi Krupa Rani	28 October 2012	26 May 2014
Minister of State of Communications
26			Sanjay Shamrao Dhotre	31 May 2019	7 July 2021		Bharatiya Janata Party	Modi II		Narendra Modi
27			Devusinh Jesingbhai Chauhan	7 July 2021	9 June 2024
28			Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani	10 June 2024	Incumbent		Telugu Desam Party	Modi III

Deputy Ministers

	Portrait		Minister	Term of office			Political party	Ministry	Prime Minister
				From	To	Period
Deputy Minister of Communications
1			Khurshed Lal	1 October 1948	29 January 1951		Indian National Congress	Nehru I		Jawaharlal Nehru
2			Raj Bahadur	29 January 1951	13 May 1952
(2)			Raj Bahadur	4 June 1952	14 February 1956		Indian National Congress	Nehru II
Deputy Minister of Posts and Telegraphs
3			Bijoy Chandra Bhagavati	1 September 1963	13 May 1964		Indian National Congress	Nehru IV		Jawaharlal Nehru
Deputy Minister of Communications
(3)			Bijoy Chandra Bhagavati	13 May 1964	27 May 1964		Indian National Congress	Nehru IV		Jawaharlal Nehru
				27 May 1964	9 June 1964			Nanda I		Gulzarilal Nanda
				15 June 1964	11 January 1966			Shastri		Lal Bahadur Shastri
				11 January 1966	24 January 1966			Nanda II		Gulzarilal Nanda
4			Vidya Charan Shukla	24 January 1966	14 February 1966			Indira I		Indira Gandhi
5			Jagannath Pahadia	22 July 1972	23 December 1976		Indian National Congress (R)	Indira III
6			Balgovind Verma	23 December 1976	24 March 1977
7			Vijaykumar Naval Patil	19 October 1980	31 October 1984		Indian National Congress (I)	Indira IV		Indira Gandhi
				4 November 1984	31 December 1984			Rajiv I		Rajiv Gandhi
8			Jai Parkash	7 December 1990	21 June 1991		Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya)	Chandra Shekhar		Chandra Shekhar
9			P. V. Rangayya Naidu	21 June 1991	18 January 1993		Indian National Congress (I)	Rao		P. V. Narasimha Rao

Notes and References

1. Web site: Allocation of Business to the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. Cabinet Secretariat. 21 December 2001.
2. Web site: List of Ministers of Communications . Department of Telecommunications,Communication and Information Technology . . 19 May 2016 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131002203226/http://www.dot.gov.in/about-us/former-ministers . 2 October 2013 .