The Ministry of Earth Sciences is an executive ministry of the Government of India, established on 29 January, 2006. It was formed through the reorganisation of the Department of Ocean Development and the assumption of administrative control over various institutions, including the India Meteorological Department, the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting, the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology,, and the Earth Risk Evaluation Centre.Earth Sciences Ministry is the new name The Hindu, May 11, 2006.
History In 1981, the Government of India established the Department of Ocean Development (DOD) under the Cabinet Secretariat, directly reporting to the Prime Minister of India. In 1982, it became a separate department and began focusing on ocean development activities. In 2006, the department was elevated to a Ministry, known as the Ministry of Ocean Development. Later that same year, the ministry underwent reorganisation, and the Ministry of Earth Sciences was created, incorporating various institutions under its jurisdiction. Through a government resolution in 2006, the India Meteorological Department, the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, and the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting and Research were brought under its administrative control. The resolution also led to the establishment of an Earth Commission, modelled after the Atomic Energy Commission and the Space Commission.
The ministry is currently headed by Jitendra Singh.
Functions The Ministry's mandate is to look after Atmospheric Sciences, Ocean Science & Technology and Seismology in an integrated fashion.
Organisation Earth Systems Sciences Council (ESSC) Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research National Institute of Ocean Technology National Center for Earth Science Studies Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services National Centre for Coastal Research India Meteorological Department Bharat Forecast System National Centre for Seismology National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting Earthquake Risk Evaluation Centre (under the Atmospheric Sciences and Seismology sector) Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre Centre for Marine Living Resources & Ecology (under the Ocean Science & Technology sector)
Cabinet Ministers Note: MoS, I/C Minister of State (Independent Charge)
PortraitMinisterTerm of officePolitical party Ministry Prime Minister From To Period Minister in the Department of Ocean Development 1 Rajiv Gandhi(Prime Minister) 31 December1984 2 December1989 Indian National Congress (I) Rajiv II Self 2 Vishwanath Pratap Singh(Prime Minister) 2 December1989 10 November1990 Janata Dal Vishwanath Self 3 Chandra Shekhar(Prime Minister) 10 November1990 21 June1991 Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) Chandra Shekhar Self 4 P. V. Narasimha Rao(Prime Minister) 21 June1991 16 May1996 Indian National Congress (I) Rao Self 5 Atal Bihari Vajpayee(Prime Minister) 16 May1996 1 June1996 Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee I Self 6 H. D. Deve Gowda(Prime Minister) 1 June1996 21 April1997 Janata Dal Deve Gowda Self 7 Inder Kumar Gujral(Prime Minister) 21 April1997 18 March1998 Gujral Self (5) Atal Bihari Vajpayee(Prime Minister) 19 March1998 3 February1999 Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee II Atal Bihari Vajpayee 8 Murli Manohar Joshi 3 February1999 13 October1999 (5) Atal Bihari Vajpayee(Prime Minister) 13 October1999 22 November1999 Vajpayee III (8) Murli Manohar Joshi 22 November1999 22 May2004 9 Kapil Sibal(MoS, I/C) 23 May2004 29 January2006 Indian National Congress Manmohan I Manmohan Singh Minister of Ocean Development (9) Kapil Sibal 29 January2006 12 July2006 Indian National Congress Manmohan I Manmohan Singh Minister of Earth Sciences (9) Kapil Sibal 12 July2006 22 May2009 Indian National Congress Manmohan I Manmohan Singh 10 Prithviraj Chavan(MoS, I/C) 28 May2009 10 November2010 Manmohan II (9) Kapil Sibal 10 November2010 19 January2011 11 Pawan Kumar Bansal 19 January2011 12 July2011 12 Vilasrao Deshmukh 12 July2011 10 August2012 13 Vayalar Ravi 10 August2012 28 October2012 14 S. Jaipal Reddy 28 October2012 26 May2014 15 Jitendra Singh(MoS, I/C) 27 May2014 9 November2014 Bharatiya Janata Party Modi I Narendra Modi 16 Harsh Vardhan 9 November2014 30 May2019 31 May2019 7 July2021 Modi II (15) Jitendra Singh(MoS, I/C) 7 July2021 18 May2023 17 Kiren Rijiju 18 May2023 9 June2024 (15) Jitendra Singh(MoS, I/C) 10 June2024 Incumbent Modi III
Ministers of State PortraitMinisterTerm of officePolitical party Ministry Prime Minister From To Period 1 C. P. N. Singh 15 February1982 2 February1983 Indian National Congress (I) Indira IV Indira Gandhi 2 Shivraj Patil 29 January1983 31 October1984 4 November1984 31 December1984 Rajiv I Rajiv Gandhi 31 December1984 22 October1986 Rajiv II 3 K. R. Narayanan 22 October1986 2 December1989 4 M. G. K. Menon 25 December1989 10 November1990 Janata Dal Vishwanath Vishwanath Pratap Singh 5 Rangarajan Kumaramangalam 2 July1992 2 December1993 Indian National Congress (I) Rao P. V. Narasimha Rao 6 Eduardo Faleiro 18 December1993 16 May1996 Minister of State for Earth Sciences 7 Ashwani Kumar 19 January2011 28 October2012 Indian National Congress Manmohan II Manmohan Singh 8 Y. S. Chowdary 9 November2014 9 March2018 Telugu Desam Party Modi I Narendra Modi
Networking All institutions under ESSO are connected through National Knowledge Network and its Common User Group (CUG).
See also Ministry of Science and Technology (India)
References
External links Official Ministry of Earth Sciences website Dod.nic.in: Ministry of Earth Sciences National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR) National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) National Centre for Antarctic & Ocean Research (NCAOR) Centre for Marine Living Resources & Ecology (CMLRE) National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF) India Meteorological Department (IMD) Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM)