Source: NDTV News | Title: New Ministers Take Charge Day After Massive Cabinet Revamp
New Delhi:
A day after the reboot of the union cabinet, a number of new (and promoted) ministers took charge of their assignments this morning, including Ashwini Vaishnaw – the new Railways and IT minister, and Anurag Thakur – the new Information and Broadcasting, and Sports minister.
In a short video shared by news agency ANI, Mr Vaishnaw – who faces the daunting task of heading two of the more high-profile ministries – can be seen seated at his new office at Rail Bhawan (Indian Railways’ head office) in Delhi and interacting with his officers.
“Indian Railways is a major part of PM Modi’s vision. His vision for the railways is to transform the lives of the people… that everyone – common man, farmers and the poor – get the benefits. I will work for that vision,” Mr Vaishnaw said this morning.
Heading the Railways ministry will be a stern test of Mr Vaishnaw’s management skills; not only is it one of the largest rail networks in the world, it employs lakhs of men and women and is a key component of the Indian economy, carrying over 112 million tonnes of freight in June alone.
Mr Vaishnaw – who holds an MBA from Wharton and and MTech from IIT (Kanpur) – will also have to oversee 126 ‘critical’ and ‘super critical’ projects that are worth a combined Rs 1,15,000 crore.
The ministry was earlier headed by Piyush Goyal, who will now lead the ministries of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, and Textiles.
In other ANI visuals, Anurag Thakur and Meenakshi Lekhi can also be seen at their new offices.
Mr Thakur, who was formerly the junior Finance Minister, took charge at the I&B Ministry, which was previously led by Prakash Javadekar. Mr Javadekar, who was also the Environment Minister, was one of a handful of high-profile exits from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet.
“PM Modi has done terrific work in the last seven years to take India forward. The work done by people before me in the I&B Ministry and the responsibility given to me by the PM… I will try to meet those expectations,” Mr Thakur told reporters.
Meenakshi Lekhi – a Lok Sabha MP from Delhi and a- also took charge of her new assignment – she will be the junior minister in the External Affairs and Culture ministries.
“Women have been given big responsibilities. People used to speak of women empowerment but PM Modi made it possible that the country is led by empowered women, who are provided recognition and given responsibility… this is praiseworthy,” she told ANI.
Prime Minister Modi led a massive overhaul of his cabinet yesterday, with big names like Dr Harsh Vardhan (ex-Health Minister), Ravi Shankar Prasad (ex-Law and IT Minister) and Prakash Javadekar (ex-Environment and I&B Minister) stepping down.
The reshuffle boosted cabinet ministers from 21 to 30 and junior ministers from 23 to 45. There are fewer junior ministers with independent charge – the figure has dropped from nine to two.
Among the major appointments are that of Mansukh Mandaviya as the Health Minister.
Mr Mandaviya replaces Dr Harsh Vardhan at a critical time – as the government races to avoid a third wave of COVID-19 infections and simultaneously scale up vaccinations.
Mr Mandaviya has also been given charge of the Chemicals and Fertilizers ministry.
The Law Ministry has gone to Kiren Rijiju, a law graduate who earlier handled Youth Affairs and Sports, and was also the junior minister of Minority Affairs.
Jyotiraditya Scindia – one of the BJP’s high-profile acquisitions from the Congress – has been given charge of Civil Aviation at a time when the sector is struggling under the impact of COVID-19. The ministry was once handled by his father Madhavrao Scindia, who died in a plane crash in 2001.
Hardeep Singh Puri, who was previously the Civil Aviation Minister, is now the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, and Housing and Urban Affairs.
Sarbananda Sonowal, who stepped aside as Assam Chief Minister so Himanta Biswa Sarma could be appointed, has been given Ports, Shipping and Waterways. He will also handle Ayush Ministry.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has been given the newly-created Ministry of Cooperation.
“I congratulate all the colleagues who have taken oath today and wish them the very best for their ministerial tenure. We will continue working to fulfil aspirations of the people and build a strong and prosperous India,” PM Modi tweeted yesterday after the oath-taking ceremony.
With input from ANI