Minister of Railways

The Ministry of Railways is an Indian government ministry with the responsibility for rail transportation in the country. Indian Railways, a statutory corporation that serves as a rail transportation monopoly and is governed by the Chairman and CEO of the Railway Board, is overseen by the ministry. The Ministry of Railways and the Railway Board are both housed at New Delhi’s Rail Bhawan.

First Female Railway Loco Pilot

Surekha Yadav (born September 2, 1965) works for the Indian Railways as a female loco pilot (train driver).  In 1988, she was the first woman to drive a train in India. When Mamata Banerjee, the then-Railway Minister, first inaugurated the “Ladies Special ” local train in the four metro cities in April 2000, she drove it for Central Railways.  On International Women’s Day, March 8, 2011, she made history as Asia’s first woman train driver, driving the Deccan Queen from Pune to CST. At CST, the headquarters of the Central Railway Zone, where she was received by Shraddha Jadhav, the then Mayor of Mumbai.

Surekha’s desire came true when she drove one of the Central Railway’s female-named trains; the Mumbai-Pune Railway Pravasi Sangh (association) aggressively encouraged her to drive this train. She did it again ten years later, this time driving an all-female team from Mumbai to Lucknow.”Women don’t drive locomotive engines” was a common remark in 2011.

In 1987, Yadav was interviewed by the Mumbai Railway Recruitment Board.

In 1986, she was chosen as a trainee assistant driver for the Central Railway and trained for six months at the Kalyan Training School. When Yadav joined the Indian Railways, she discovered she was the first woman to operate a train in India, which was a male-dominated industry at the time.

Her dream is to be a long-distance train conductor. She has also taken part in anti-eve-teasing campaigns. In 1991, Yadav appeared in the television series “Hum Bhi Kisise Kum Nahi “.In 2021, she led an all-female crew on a special train from Mumbai to Lucknow to commemorate International Women’s Day.

Awards And Achievements

• Puraskar Jijau (1998)
• Award for Women Achievers (2001) (by lions)
• Delhi’s Rashtriya Mahila Aayog (2001)
• Sakhi Manch lokmat (2002)
• Platinum jubilee year festivities at S.B.I. (2003-2004)
• The Sahyadri Hirkani Award is given to individuals who have made significant contributions to the Sahyadri (2004)
• Puraskar Prerna (2005)
• G.M.award is an award given by the General Manager of a company (2011)
• The 2011 Woman Achievers Award was given to a woman who has excelled in her (by central railway)
• The RWCC’s Best Women of the Year award was given in 2013.
• On the 5th of April 2013, the GM award for the first lady loco pilot on Indian Railways was presented.

First Railway Minister After Independence

John Matthai CIE (1886–1959) was an economist who served as India’s first Railway Minister and then as Finance Minister, assuming office soon after India’s first Budget was presented in 1948. He was born to an Anglican Syrian Christian family on January 10, 1886, as the son of Challiyal Thomas Matthai and Anna Thayyil. He received his bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Madras. From 1922 to 1925, he was a Professor and Head at the University of Madras. He served as India’s Finance Minister for two years but resigned after the 1950 Budget in protest of the Planning Commission’s and P. C.Mahalanobis’ growing power.

When the State Bank of India was founded in 1955, he became the first Chairman. He was the first President of the Governing Body of India’s first independent economic policy institute, the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) in New Delhi, which was founded in 1956. From 1955 to 1957, he was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Mumbai, and then from 1957 to 1959, he was the first Vice-Chancellor of the University of Kerala.

Conclusion

Railways are involved in a variety of activities, including business, tourist, and pilgrimage, as well as freight transportation. Long-distance travel is less difficult. In terms of national integration, it is quite important. It promotes industrial and agricultural development. Ministers are selected to oversee the smooth operation of the railway department. Ministers of the railways are in charge of one of the government’s most important departments. It contributes to the railway’s smooth operation.