New Delhi: The newly appointed Minister of Civil Aviation Rajiv Pratap Rudy took charge of his office on May 26. He replaced Shahnawaz Hussain as Minister with independent charge in May 24 Cabinet reshuffle.

Hussain, the only Muslim Minister in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, has been shunted to Textiles Ministry.

Rudy, a former junior Commerce Minister, said he would bring transparency in the working of the Civil Aviation department.

"We will definitely like to have a lot of transparency in the work in this department and with the set of the team and officers we have. And a word for my predecessor Shahnawaz Hussain, who did a great job here," he said while taking on the new mantle.

During Hussain's tenure, the Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment (CCD) abandoned the sale of India's state-run domestic and international carriers, both of which have accumulated cumulative losses over the years.

The long-delayed disinvestment of Indian Airlines and Air India was seen as key to the government's divestment targets.

Both airlines were taken off the hammer on the grounds that they planned to invest billions of Dollars in new acquisitions of medium capacity long range (MCLR) aircraft.

Political influence in airlines' decision making and wrangles over ministerial interference in operations of flights also marred Hussain's tenure at the helm of the Civil Aviation Ministry.

ANI