Smriti Irani won the 2019 general election from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh
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. Thirty-six new ministers joined the government and seven got promoted, taking the total strength of the Union cabinet to 78. Nearly half of them are new.
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.
Today's reshuffle in the Council of Ministers by PM Modi is the first since he won a second term in May 2019. A month-long review was carried out by PM Modi and the BJP central leadership, leading to today's changes in the Union cabinet. These meetings were held amid widespread criticism of the government's handling of the pandemic.
Seven more women leaders have also joined the government, taking the total number of women leaders in the Union cabinet to 11. They are Meenakashi Lekhi, Shobha Karandlaje, Anupriya Singh Patel, Darshana Vikram Jardosh, Annpurna Devi, Pratima Bhoumik and Bharati Pravin Pawar.