Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s big cabinet revamp saw 36 new ministers join the government with seven ministers within got promoted and four high-profile ministers resigned yesterday. The Council of Ministers presently has a total of 78 members, including the Prime Minister.
The number of cabinet ministers has increased from 21 to 30 and the number of junior ministers has increased from 23 to 45 as a result of the current reshuffle. There are now only two junior ministers with Independent charge, down from nine previously.
- As the country prepares for a third wave of Covid after a crippling second outbreak, Mansukh Mandaviya has been tasked with overseeing containment efforts as the director of the vital health ministry. Dr Bharati Pawar will be his junior minister. He would also keep control of the Ministry of Chemical Fertilizers.
- The Railways and IT ministries have been assigned to Ashwini Vaishnaw, an Odisha Rajya Sabha MP.
- Kiren Rijiju has been named Minister of Law and Justice. He formerly served as Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Minister of Ayush, and Minister of State for Minority Affairs.
- The Civil Aviation Ministry has been assigned to Jyotiraditya Scindia, BJP’s high-profile congress acquisitions. His father, Madhavrao Scindia, was in charge of the ministry until he died in an aircraft crash in 2001.
- Ramchandra Prasad Singh of Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal-United has been made part of the Steel cabinet.
- Anurag Singh Thakur has been given charge of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. He will also be in charge of Youth Affairs and Sports. Previously, he held the position of junior minister of finance and corporate affairs.
- The portfolio for Ports, Shipping, and Waterways has been assigned to Sarbananda Sonowal. He’ll be in charge of the Ayush Ministry as well. He was formerly the Chief Minister of Assam, and in the first NDA administration, he was in charge of the Sports and Youth Affairs ministry.
- Dharmendra Pradhan has been given the charge of Education Ministry, earlier he was the minister of Petrol, Natural Gas and Steel.
- Union Home Minister Amit Shah has got the charge of the newly-created Ministry of Cooperation.
- Meenakshi Lekhi will be the Minister of State in charge of the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Culture.
- The Dairies and Fisheries portfolios will be handled by Parshottam Rupala.
- Hardeep Singh Puri will be the next Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, as well as Housing and Urban Development.
- Pashupati Paras, the leader of Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party’s splinter group, has been assigned the Food Processing portfolio.
- The Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the Labour and Employment ministries have gone to Bhupender Yadav.
- G Kishan Reddy will handle the Culture, Tourism and Development of the North Eastern Region portfolios.
- Bhupender Yadav is now the Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, as well as the Minister of Labour and Employment.
- G Kishan Reddy will be in charge of the North Eastern Region’s Culture, Tourism, and Development ministries.
Yesterday, 44 ministers were sworn in as part of the first reshuffle of Prime Minister Modi’s second term. A total of fifteen of them were appointed to the Union Cabinet.
It was preceded by the resignations of 12 ministers, including high-profile figures like Ravi Shankar Prasad, Dr Harshvardhan, and Prakash Javadekar, all of whom were considered as part of the Prime Minister’s core team.
It’s a reorganisation of the cabinet. This is to avoid any potential for corruption and to allow all ministers the opportunity to do their best for the country and their constituents.