Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju was the Minister of Civil Aviation under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He was in office from 26th May 2014 to 8th March 2018.
Post Raju’s resignation Mr Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu the Minister of Commerce and Industry has been given the additional charge of the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Mr Prabhu assumed charge of the Ministry of Civil Aviation on 12th March 2018.
(former minister of civil aviation Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju)
Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju was born on 26th June 1951 in Madras (Chennai), Madras State (present-day Tamil Nadu), India. Mr Raju belongs to the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). He is the Member of Parliament representing Vizianagaram from 16th May 2014. Prior to becoming a Member of Parliament (MP) in 2014 Mr.Raju was the Member of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Vizianagaram twice. He was an MLA from the same constituency twice from 1978 to 2004 and again from 2009 to 2014.
Mr Suresh Prabhu is the current Minister of Civil Aviation. He was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. He was the Minister of Railways under Modi Government from 9th November 2014 to 3rd September 2017. He was also the Minister of Power from 30th September 2000 to 24th August 2002 under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. A Charted Accountant by profession Mr Suresh Prabhu is a member of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). Earlier Mr Suresh Prabhu was a member of Shiv Sena political party and represented Rajapur constituency in the Lok Sabha from 1996 to 2009. He joined the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) in November 2014. Mr Prabhu represented Haryana in Rajya Sabha from 29th November 2014 to 21st June 2016. At present Mr Prabhu represents Andhra Pradesh in Rajya Sabha from 22nd June 2016.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation is responsible for formulating policies and schemes for development of Civil Aviation. The ministry is responsible for implementing the policies and schemes for the growth of civil air transport. The ministry is also responsible for air traffic services, airport facilities and carriage of passengers and goods by air. The headquarters of the ministry is at Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan, New Delhi. Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), Commission of Railway Safety and Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) are the organizations that come under the authority of the Ministry of Civil Aviation.