Our Bureau
New Delhi
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has appointed Ashwani Lohani, former chairman of Air India and the Railway Board, as the new director of the Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library (PMML) in New Delhi. Lohani’s appointment, effective for a three-year tenure, comes months after the previous director, former power secretary Sanjiv Nandan Sahai, completed his term. Lily Pandeya, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Culture, had been serving as interim director.
Lohani, a 1980 batch officer of the Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineering (IRSME), brings decades of experience in public administration and the travel and tourism sector. Notably, he has twice served as chairman and managing director of Air India, and was appointed chairman of the Railway Board in 2017. Following his retirement from government service, Lohani joined the GMR Group as CEO.
His earlier roles include chairman and managing director of India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) in 2001, and commissioner and managing director of the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (MPTDC) from 2004, where he is credited with revitalizing both organizations.
The PMML, dedicated to preserving the legacy of India’s prime ministers, recently underwent a major restructuring. The executive council, previously comprising 29 members, has expanded to 34. Nripendra Mishra, former principal secretary to the prime minister, was reappointed as chairperson for five years. New council members include former Union minister Smriti Irani, ex-NITI Aayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar, retired Army General Syed Ata Hasnain, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, and Vasudev Kamath of Sanskar Bharati.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi serves as president of the PMML society, with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh as vice president. As director, Lohani will also join the seven-member executive council, chaired by Mishra.