Nitin Gadkari Has Taken Charge as the Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping
INVC,
Nitin Gadkari has taken charge as the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways and Shipping. Briefly interacting with the newsmen on the occasion, the Minister said efforts will be made in a transparent manner to give fillip to infrastructure development under his ministry. Shri Gadkari later held meetings with the officials of the Ministry and gave them his directions. The Minister said that inter-ministerial level discussions between the Secretaries of Shipping, Environment & Forests and Tourism could be held to further explore possibilities of developing inland waterways and tourism along the river Ganga.
Shri Nitin Gadkari has been elected as a MP from the Nagpur Constituency in Maharashtra in the recent Lok Sabha Elections. The 57 year old senior BJP leader had earlier been the PWD (Public Works Department) Minister in the Maharashtra Government between 1995 & 1999. Gadkari has been a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council since 1989. He was also the leader of the opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council from 1999-2005.
As Public Works minister in Maharashtra, he built the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. From that experience he was asked by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to launch the National Highways Authority.
The Vajpayee Government appointed him the Chairman of National Rural Road Development Committee. After a series of meetings and studies, Gadkari submitted his report to the central government and gave a presentation to the Prime Minister Shri Vajpayee. His report was accepted and a new rural road connecting scheme now popularly known as Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana was launched.
He was the President of the Maharashtra Pradesh BJP till 2009 when he was elevated to the post of the BJP National President to become the youngest ever party president.
