New Delhi: A number of key portfolios - including Health, Law, Information and Technology and Railways - have gone to new ministers and junior ministers who got a promotion in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Council of Ministers that underwent a reboot today.
The number of cabinet ministers has been boosted from 21 to 30 in the current reshuffle. The number of junior ministers has gone up too, from 23 to 45. There are fewer junior ministers with Independent Charge - the figure has dropped from nine to two.
Thirty-six new ministers joined the government and four high-profile ministers quit today in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mega cabinet reboot to offset criticism as the country emerges from a fierce second wave of Covid ahead of key elections.
PM Modi now has 77 ministers, nearly half of them new. Anurag Thakur and Hardeep Puri are among 15 new cabinet ministers.
Sarbananda Sonowal, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Narayan Rane, Bhupender Yadav and Ashwini Vaishnaw were also sworn in as cabinet ministers.
But the exits of IT and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar stood out on a day resignations made bigger news than new ministers.
This is PM Modi's first major overhaul of the Union Cabinet since he took office for a second term in 2019.
Here are the Highlights on PM Modi's Cabinet Reshuffle:
Jul 07, 2021 23:50 (IST)
Smriti Irani Keeps Women And Child Development, Textiles Goes To Piyush Goyal
Smriti Zubin Irani continues to head the Women and Child Development Ministry in the refreshed Union Cabinet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Textiles Ministry, which she also headed, has gone to former Railway Minister Piyush Goyal.
Ms Irani was Human Resource Development Minister from May 2014 to July 2016 and Minister for Information and Broadcasting from July 2017 to May 2018. She is India's first woman to hold office as Union Minister for Human Resource Development and as Union Minister of Textiles.
She took charge as Women and Child Development Minister in June 2019.
Jul 07, 2021 23:13 (IST)
Cabinet Overhaul 2021: Home Minister Amit Shah Greets Newly Sworn-In Ministers
Home Minister Amit Shah greeted all Union ministers who were sworn in Wednesday and expressed hope they will do their best in taking the welfare policies of the Modi government to the people with full devotion and dedication to realise the resolve of a self-reliant India, reported news agency PTI.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi effected a reshuffle in his Council of Ministers - the first since he assumed charge for a second term in May 2019.
"Congratulations to all the colleagues who took oath as the minister. I am sure that the entire cabinet under the leadership of @narendramodi ji will make its best contribution in taking the welfare policies of the government to the people with full devotion and dedication and in realising the resolve of self-reliant India," Amit Shah tweeted in Hindi.
Jul 07, 2021 23:03 (IST)
Cabinet Expansion 2021: Four Doctors, Ex-AIR Engineer, Former Bank Chairman In PM Modi's Team
Four doctors - Heena Gavit, Mahendra Munjapara, Bharati Pawar and Bhagwat Karad - former broadcast engineer Devusinh Chauhan and former Thane District Co-operative Bank chairman Kapil Patil are among those inducted into the Union Council of Ministers Wednesday.
Jul 07, 2021 22:40 (IST)
Cabinet Expansion 2021: Number of Cabinet Ministers Increased To 30 From 21
In today's reboot, the number of Cabinet Ministers has been increased from 21 to 30, and Ministers of State from 23 to 45. However, the number of Ministers of State (Independent Charge) has been cut to two from nine earlier.
Jul 07, 2021 22:22 (IST)
Anurag Thakur Gets Information And Broadcasting, Sports Ministry
Anurag Thakur, the BJP MP from Himachal Pradesh's Hamirpur who was sworn-in today as a cabinet minister, has been entrusted with two important portfolios - Information and Broadcasting, and Sports.
Jul 07, 2021 22:14 (IST)
Jyotiraditya Scindia Gets Civil Aviation, Hardeep Singh Puri Urban Development And Petroleum Ministry
Jyotiraditya Scindia, who crossed over to the BJP in March 2020, leading to the collapse of the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh, has been appointed the Civil Aviation Minister, and Hardeep Puri, who used to head this ministry, will head the Urban Development and Petroleum Ministry.
Jul 07, 2021 22:11 (IST)
Ashwani Vaishnaw Takes Over As Railways And IT Minister
BJP Rajya Sabha MP from Odisha Ashwini Vaishnaw will be the new Railways Minister and head the Information and Technology Ministry as well, the government announced on Wednesday.
"A former IAS Officer of the 1994 batch, he handled important responsibilities over 15 years and was particularly known for his contribution to the PPP framework in Infrastructure," the government said in a note.
"Post that, he has held leadership roles across major global companies such as General Electric and Siemens," it said.
"He has a MBA from Wharton School, Pennsylvania University and MTech from IIT Kanpur," it added.
Jul 07, 2021 21:01 (IST)
Cabinet, Council of Ministers To Meet Tomorrow: Report
Meetings of Cabinet and Council of Ministers to be held tomorrow at 5 pm and 7 pm respectively, reported news agency ANI citing sources.
Jul 07, 2021 20:24 (IST)
Meenakshi Lekhi: From BJP Face In Media To Union Minister
A popular face of the BJP and a good orator, Meenakshi Lekhi has for long articulated and advocated the party's policies and programmes while taking on her political opponents before she found a place in the Union Council of Ministers.
54-year-old Meenakshi Lekhi, who took oath as a Union Minister of State on her second term as the MP from the New Delhi constituency, has been at the forefront of struggles on a host of issues ranging from those pertaining to women and the environment to law and development, reported news agency PTI.
