Modi Cabinet reshuffle Highlights
As many as 43 leaders including Jyotiraditya Scindia, Narayan Rane and Sarbananda Sonowal Wednesday took oath as part of the Cabinet expansion of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government. Fifteen Cabinet ministers, including some new faces, were sworn in at the swearing-in ceremony held in the Darbar Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhawan. While 13 members took oath in Hindi, two took in English.
Among those who took oath were Ajay Bhatt, Bhupender Yadav, Shobha Karandlaje, Sunita Duggal, Meenakshi Lekhi, Bharati Pawar, Shantanu Thakur, LJP's Pashupati Paras, and Apna Dal's Anupriya Patel.
Meanwhile, ahead of the much-anticipated reshuffle, at least twelve ministers have resigned from the council of ministers so far. Among the big names to resign include IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, Environment Minister Prakash Javdekar, Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar.
With the government’s image and credibility hit after the deadly second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi signalled a reset effecting the most sweeping change in his Council of Ministers since he took charge for the first time in 2014.
As many as 36 new faces were inducted and 12 sitting ministers were shown the door taking the tally in the Council of Ministers to 78 (including the PM), just a notch short of the statutory limit of 81.
The changes mark, arguably, the largest-scale purge in recent times with the Prime Minister divesting six of 23 sitting Cabinet ministers — over one fourth — and one Minister of State (Independent Charge) of their ministerial responsibilities.
In order to empower mandis, arrangements made for use of Agriculture Infrastructure Fund: Modi
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Union Food Processing Minister Pashupati Kumar Paras on Thursday said he is the "real political successor" of his late brother Ram Vilas Paswan and not Chirag Paswan, who may be a claimant to his father's assets. After the death of Ram Vilas Paswan last year, a factional feud started in Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) between Paras and Paswan's son Chirag Paswan, with both sides now claiming to represent the party. LJP was founded by Ram Vilas Paswan. Paras, who was sworn in as a Cabinet Minister on Wednesday in the Narendra Modi-led government and made the Minister of Food Processing Industries, asked Chirag Paswan to do "self-introspection" about his mistakes. --PTI
Union Home Minister Amit Shah today met Ajay Kumar and Nisith Pramanik after they took charge as Ministers of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi chairs Council of Ministers meeting via video conference.
Pediatric care centers will be formed in 736 districts, 20,000 ICU beds will be created under the COVID relief fund: Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Health Minister
Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said efforts will be made to provide more resources to the APMCs. Assuring that APMCs will not be done away with after farm laws, Tomar said, “Rs 1 lakh crore allocated under Atmanirbhar Bharat to Farmers Infrastructure Fund can be used by APMCs.
"APMC can use Rs 1 lakh crore agricultire investment fund. APMC won't be finished due to farm laws," says Tomar
Decisions taken in cabinet meeting prove government committed towards agriculture sector, says Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar.
First cabinet meeting held with new batch of ministers. Union Minister Anurag Thakur says big decision taken in the meeting.
Dropping Harsh Vardhan shows entire country's Covid work not up to the mark: DK Shivakumar
Several ministers, who took charge after a major Cabinet reshuffle, on Thursday hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his leadership and vowed to realise his vision for the country. Newly appointed Union ministers and those elevated in the Cabinet reshuffle, including Ashwini Vaishnaw, Anurag Thakur and Mansukh Mandaviya, took charge of their respective ministries on Thursday. Bureaucrat-entrepreneur-turned-politician Vaishnaw, took charge as the country's new railway minister, while Thakur who was elevated as Information and Broadcasting Minister also assumed office. --PTI
Munjapara Mahendrabhai takes charge as Minister of State in the Ministry of Women and Child Development and Minister of State in the Ministry of AYUSH.
Kiren Rijiju on Thursday took charge as the new law and justice minister and said the prime minster's vision of making an 'aatmanirbhar Bharat' (self-reliant India) also needs a robust legal system in the country. He said although he has a law degree, he does not have much experience about legal matters because he was never in the (legal) profession. "But everything can be handled with proper guidance, proper understanding of the subjects and application of right mind," he told reporters. "The prime minister's vision of making an 'aatmanirbhar Bharat' also requires a robust legal system in our country," he said, without elaborating. --PTI
New MoS, Home, Ajay Mishra takes charge in his office
Piyush Goyal takes charge as the Minister of Commerce and Industry; Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution; and Minister of Textiles
Nishad Party president Sanjay Nishad Wednesday expressed disappointment over his son and MP Praveen Nishad not being included in the Union cabinet after the reshuffle. He asked if Anupriya Patel of the Apna Dal (Sonelal) can be included in the Union council of ministers, why can't Praveen Nishad. "If Anupriya Patel of Apna Dal (Sonelal) could get a place in the council of ministers, then why MP Praveen Nishad can't? The people of Nishad community are already ditching the BJP and if the party does not rectify its mistakes, it will face the consequences in the upcoming assembly poll," he said. He said Praveen Nishad enjoys popularity in over 160 seats whereas "Anupriya Patel in just a few (assembly) seats". He added that he has conveyed his views to BJP president JP Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. "It is their turn to decide. However, I have full faith in them that they will take care of Praveen Nishad," he said. --PTI
Nisith Pramanik takes charge as Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
Pashupati Kumar Paras takes charge as Cabinet Minister in the Ministry of Food Processing Industries.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Thursday alleged that the elevation of Alipurduar MP John Barla as Union minister proves that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supports the bifurcation of West Bengal, a charge denied by the saffron party.
Barla, one of the key architects of the BJP’s making of inroads in north Bengal, had recently demanded a separate Union territory by carving out the region from the state. He was inducted into the cabinet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs.
“The decision to elevate John Barla as Union minister proves that the BJP supports his statement regarding the division of West Bengal. The saffron should come out clean on it. He (Barla) is a divisive personality…For last two years, I haven’t seen him being able to speak properly in the Parliament, what sort of minister he will make is anybody’s guess,” TMC leader Sougata Roy said. Read more
Anurag Singh Thakur takes charge as Minister of Information and Broadcasting; and Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports. "I am thankful to PM Modi for giving me this responsibility. With the support of Associations, Federations, I will put in my best efforts to take Indian Sports ahead," he says.
John Barla, West Bengal's Alipurduar MP takes charge as Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs
Union Minister for Labour Bhupendra Yadav assumes office, in New Delhi, Thursday, July 8, 2021.
Dr Rajkumar Ranjan Singh takes charge as the Minister of State (MoS) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
Bhupender Yadav on Thursday assumed charge of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change. Earlier, the minister took charge of the Labour Ministry. "I am grateful to the prime minister. I have already taken charge as labour minister. Now I take charge as environment minister. I will put my best foot forward to fulfil the responsibility given to me by the PM and the confidence he has shown in me. I will meet all officials and will begin my work," Yadav said. The 51-year-old Yadav, serving his second term as a Rajya Sabha MP from Rajasthan, was sworn in as Union Minister on Wednesday. --PTI
BJP Rajya Sabha member Bhupender Yadav on Thursday took charge of Ministry of Labour and Employment as Union Cabinet Minister amid the pandemic which has hard hit the working class, especially informal workers. Besides, Lok Sabha member Rameswar Teli took over as Minister of State for Labour and Employment. Yadav has succeeded senior BJP leader and eight-time member of Lok Sabha Santosh Kumar Gangwar who was holding charge of the ministry as Minister of State (Independent Charge). When asked about his views on issues related to labour and employment, after he took charge, Yadav did not offer any comments but said,"I thank you all and today I am taking charge of this ministry along with my colleague Rameswar Teli." --PTI
Former bureaucrat Ram Chandra Prasad Singh on Thursday took charge as the country's new Steel Minister. The two-time member of Rajya Sabha replaced Dharmendra Pradhan, who was allotted the Ministry of Education along with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship in the latest Cabinet reshuffle of the Modi 2.0 government. The Janata Dal-United leader, who turned 63 on Tuesday, represents Bihar in the upper house of Parliament. (PTI)
Piyush Goyal took over as the Union Textile Minister from her predecessor Smriti Irani on Thursday. Irani has been appointed as the Women and Child development Minister.
Jitendra Singh takes charge as MoS (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Earth Sciences. “I thank PM Modi for entrusting me with responsibility of this important department. I was in this field briefly 17 years ago. Under leadership of PM Modi and his great personal interest in scientific development, we have been able to accomplish a lot of world-class mechanisms,” he said.
Dharmendra Pradhan takes charge as the Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. Minister of State Rajeev Chandrasekhar is also present.
G Kishan Reddy took charge as the Union Minister of Culture and Tourism on Thursday. Ministers Ajay Bhatt, Shripad Naik and Meenakshi Lekhi are also present. “A lot of tourists come into our country. After studying it thoroughly, we can find what more can we do. We are doing much in this field which is constantly growing,” Ajay Bhatt said.
Dr L Murugan Minister of State for Fisheries, Animals Husbandry and Diaries in the presence of Union Cabinet Minister Shri.
“I have been given the responsibility to work for farmers. I am a farmer's daughter, so I know their pain. I will work for the welfare of farmers and see to it that they are benefitted by the schemes of the Centre,” Shobha Karandlaje, MoS in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, said before taking charge.
Hardeep Singh Puri takes charge as the Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas. He replaces Dharmendra Pradhan, who greeted him on the occasion.
During the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, there were rumours that the BJP will not give a ticket to Meenakshi Lekhi when her name did not feature in the first list of four that was released by the saffron party.
MPs Dr Harsh Vardhan, Manoj Tiwari, Parvesh Sahib Singh, Ramesh Bidhuri were the ones named first. Three more spots remained and besides Lekhi, incumbent MPs Udit Raj and Maheish Girri were also ones who were still not given a ticket. When the second list came out, Lekhi was the only one to feature on it among the three. (Read Abhinav Rajput's report)
Sarbananda Sonowal pays floral tribute to Jana Sangh leader Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyaya and Syama Prasad Mookerjee at the BJP headquarters. He will be taking charge of the Ministries of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, and AYUSH later in the day.
Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia arrives at BJP office before taking charge on Thursday afternoon. 'I'll try to carry out the responsibilities to the best of my ability. I hope to meet all expectations. I'll work hard, just like I worked for the people in last 15-20 years,' he said.
Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and Labour and Employment, Bhupender Yadav, met BJP national president JP Nadda today before taking charge. (ANI)
Kiren Rijiju took charge as the Union Minister of Law and Justice on Thursday afternoon. “It is a huge responsibility for me to function as a Minister for Law and Justice. Fulfilling public expectations will be my priority. We will always try to be transparent,” he said.
Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar takes charge as the new Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Darshana Vikram Jardosh, the newly inducted Union Minister of State for Railways, assumed office at the Rail Bhawan in New Delhi today.
Mansukh Mandaviya, on Monday, took charge as the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare. He replaces Dr Harsh Vardhan. (ANI)
“On behalf of all friends, I express my gratitude to the Prime Minister, Home Minister, party chief and the entire team that they prioritised meritocracy and hard work. People used to speak of women empowerment but PM Modi made it possible that the country be led by empowered women,” Meenakshi Lekhi said.
Anurag Thakur, on Thursday, took charge as the Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting. "PM Modi has done terrific work in the last 7 years to take India forward. The work done by people before me in the I&B Ministry has been commendable and I will try to meet the expectations that the people have from me,” he said.
Ashwini Vaishnaw took charge as the new Minister of Railways on Thursday. Railway is a major part of PM Modi's vision. His vision for railways is to transform the lives of the people, that everyone - common man, farmers, the poor - gets the benefit of railway. I will work for that vision.
The political prospects of the Bharatiya Janata Party in states where Assembly elections are scheduled next year seem to have weighed heavily as Prime Minister Narendra Modi undertook a massive makeover and expansion of his Council of Ministers.
Seven new ministers — more than one-fifth of the addition of total 36 to the Council of Ministers — are from Uttar Pradesh, taking the total representation from the state to 16. UP goes to polls in early 2022 or less than eight months from now. It is critical for the party in the national elections too given that it brings the biggest chunk of 80 seats or almost 15 per cent to the 543-member strong Lok Sabha. The ministers from UP include Anupriya Patel, Chief of the Apna Dal, a small but key BJP ally in the state. (Read Liz Mathew's report)
With the reshuffle on Wednesday, the Narendra Modi government has nearly doubled the number of women ministers since the first term. The strength has moved from six in the previous term to 11 – the highest number of women ministers in the Union government since 2004.
Both terms of the Manmohan Singh-led governments had 10 women ministers each. As many as seven new women ministers were inducted in the government on Wednesday, apart from existing Cabinet ministers Nirmala Sitaraman and Smriti Irani, and Ministers of State Sadhavi Niranjan Jyoti and Renuka Singh. (Read Esha Roy's report)
Former IAS officer, alumnus of IIT-Kanpur and Wharton Business School, entrepreneur, Rajya Sabha MP from Odisha. Meet Ashwini Vaishnaw, who has taken over as the new Union Minister for Communications, Electronics and Information Technology, and Railways.
Born in Jodhpur in 1970, Vaishnaw served as District Collector in Balasore and Cuttack, and played a key role in rehabilitation efforts following the devastating super cyclone in 1999. He also worked in the Prime Minister’s Office when the late A B Vajpayee was at the helm — and was appointed as Vajpayee’s private secretary after the NDA’s loss in 2004. (Read Aashish Aryan and Apurva Vishwanath’s report)
Of the 12 ministers who resigned ahead of the reshuffle, the one that caught the eye was the exit of Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan. His departure is one of the strongest signals on the handling of the ferocious second Covid-19 wave — to the government’s detractors, it is an admission of its failure; and to its supporters, a much-needed course correction to reassure the country.
On March 7, Harsh Vardhan announced that it was the “endgame” of the pandemic in India. But cases started to mount in the last week of March and in the run-up to the April crisis over supply of medical oxygen, his role as Health Minister had diminished. (Read Kaunain Sheriff M’s report)
As the second wave of the Covid-19 abates, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday handpicked new and young leaders to nurture and energise the sectors ravaged by the pandemic — from health and education to labour, civil aviation, IT and petroleum.
In the biggest-ever expansion of the Council of Ministers, he has assigned key responsibilities such as IT and Communication to the Wharton-educated Ashwini Vaishnaw, Health to Mansukh Mandaviya, Civil Aviation to Jyotiraditya Scindia, Education and Skill Development to Dharmendra Pradhan, Environment, Labour and Employment to Bhupendra Yadav, Information and Broadcasting to Anurag Thakur and Law to Kiren Rijiju. (Read Liz Mathew's report)
Here's the full list of Cabinet Ministers
1. Narayan Tatu Rane: Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
2. Sarbananda Sonowal: Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways; and Minister of AYUSH
3. Dr. Virendra Kumar: Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment
4. Jyotiraditya M Scindia: Minister of Civil Aviation
5. Ramchandra Prasad Singh: Minister of Steel
6. Ashwini Vaishnaw: Minister of Railways; Minister of Communications; and Minister of Electronics and Information
Technology
7. Pashupati Kumar Paras: Minister of Food Processing Industries
8. Kiren Rijiju: Minister of Law and Justice
9. Raj Kumar Singh: Minister of Power; and Minister of New and Renewable Energy
10. Hardeep Singh Puri: Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas; and Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs
11. Mansukh Mandaviya: Minister of Health and Family Welfare; and Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers
12. Bhupender Yadav: Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; and Minister of Labour and Employment
13. Parshottam Rupala: Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying
14. G. Kishan Reddy: Minister of Culture; Minister of Tourism; and Minister of Development of North Eastern
Region
15. Anurag Singh Thakur: Minister of Information and Broadcasting; and Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports
Piyush Goyal will now be the Minister of Textiles, besides being the Minister of Commerce and Industry; and the Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
Ramchandra Prasad Singh will be the new Steel Minister, while Pashupati Kumar Paras has been made the Minister of Food Processing Industries.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in charge of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space, and all other portfolios not allocated to any minister.
Home Minister Amit Shah will also be in charge of the newly created Ministry of Cooperation. Rajnath Singh will be in charge of the Defence, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will also be the Minister of Corporate Affairs while Ashwini Vasihnaw will be in charge of the ministries of Railways, Communications and Electronics and Information Technology. Kiren Rijiju will be the new Minister of Law and Justice.
Mansukh Mandaviya has been made the Minister of Health and Family Welfare and the Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers while Hardeep Singh Puri will be in charge of the ministries of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Housing and Urban Affairs. Click here to see full list.
Anurag Thakur has replaced Kiren Rijiju as the country's sports minister with just over two weeks left for the Tokyo Olympics. The 46-year-old former Cricket Board President was given charge of sports along with the Information and Broadcasting ministry after he took oath as a cabinet minister.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in charge of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space, and all other portfolios not allocated to any minister. Here's the full list of ministers in the Modi government.
Meenakshi Lekhi is now the Minister of State (MoS) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).