Minister of Communications and Technology

Minister of Communications and Technology
Minister of Communications and Technology
संचार एवं प्रौद्योगिकी मंत्री (Hindi)
	Coat of arms of Vishwamitra
	Incumbent; Sri Pradhana Rajanshu; since 3 October 2024
	Ministry of Communications and Technology
Style	The Honourable
Member of	Lok Sabha; Cabinet;
Reports to	Prime Minister
Nominator	Prime Minister
Appointer	The Rashtradhyaksh; on the recommendation of the Prime Minister
Term length	At His Illustrious and Royal Majesty's pleasure
Formation	17 August 2019 (first creation); 15 June 2024 (second creation);
First holder	Asmi Patranabis
Deputy	Minister of State for Communications and Technology

The Minister of Communications and Technology (Hindi: संचार एवं प्रौद्योगिकी मंत्री) is a minister of the cabinet of Vishwamitra who is responsible for the Ministry of Communications and Technology. The current minister is Rajdeep Deka who has been in office since 3 October 2024. The minister is also assisted by a junior minister, the Minister of State for Communications and Technology, a position currently held by Parinita Das since 3 October 2024.

The position was first created on 17 August 2019 and Deputy Prime Minister Asmi Patranabis served as its first office-holder.

History

The office was created on 17 August 2019 by Prime Minister Tanishkaa Patranabish in her fifth ministry by separating the Department of Communications from the existing Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The ministry remained active until being merged back to its parent ministry on 3 March 2020. In January 2021, the Ministry of Science and Technology was created by separating the Department of Technology from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

In the third Hazarika ministry of prime minister Farhaz Hazarika, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting was bifurcated into two separate portfolios, the Ministry of E-communications and Interconnectedness, and the Ministry of Information and Public Relations. The Ministry of E-communications and Interconnectedness was further renamed the Ministry of Communications and Media on 11 June 2022. In November 2022, in the fourth Hazarika ministry, both the independent ministries were merged to reconstitute the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, thus the Department of Communications came under the information and broadcasting ministry, while the Department of Science and Technology came under the Ministry of Education.

On 15 June 2024, prime minister Klarissa Sriraya re-created the Ministry of Communications and Technology in her fourth ministry and appointed Suryadeva Kapei as the first office-holder following its creation. In a cabinet reshuffle on 3 October 2024, Kapei was appointed as Defence minister and replaced by Rajdeep Deka as the Minister of Communications and Technology.

Responsibilities

The minister is responsible for the various departments under the Ministry of Communications and Technology, which include:

Department of Communications
Department of Innovation and Technology
Department of Postal Services

Ministers

Note: I/C means Independent Charge