In a major Cabinet reshuffle, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh today inducted 15 new faces, elevated seven ministers to Cabinet rank and reallocated the portfolios of several others. A total of 22 ministers took oath of office and secrecy administered by President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhawan. The ministers who were inducted into the Council of Ministers include seven ministers of Cabinet rank, two ministers of State with independent charge and 13 others as ministers of state.
The 15 new members inducted in the Council of Ministers are Chandresh Kumari Katoch, Culture with Cabinet rank, Congress spokesman Manish Tewari, MoS with independent charge in the ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Dr K Chiranjeevi, MoS with independent charge in the Tourism ministry. Kodikunnil Suresh, MoS, Labour and Employment, Tariq Anwar, MoS, Agriculture and Food Processing Industries, K J Suryaprakash Reddy, Adhir Ranjan Choudhary, both MoS Railways, Mrs Rani Narah, MoS, Tribal Affairs, A H Khan Choudhary, MoS, Health and Family Welfare, S Satyanarayana, MoS, Road Transport and Highways, Ninong Ering, MoS, Minority Affairs, Mrs Deepa Dasmunshi, MoS, Urban Development, P Balram Naik, MoS, Social Justice and Empowerment, Mrs Kruparani Killi, MoS, Communication and IT and Lalchand Kataria, MoS, Defence.
Of the six ministers who have been elevated to the Cabinet rank are Harish Rawat, Water Resources, K Rahman Khan, Minority Affairs, Ajay Maken, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, M M Pallam Raju, Human Resource Development, Ashwani Kumar, Law and Justice and Dinsha Patel, Mines.
In the reallocation of portfolios, Salman Khurshid has been moved from Law and Justice ministry to External Affairs, Veerappa Moily from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to Petroleum and Natural Gas. S Jaipal Reddy has been shifted to Science and Technology ministry. Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath has also been given the charge of Parliamentary Affairs in place of Pawan Kumar Bansal, who has been shifted to Railways. Kapil Sibal continues to be Communication and IT minister. Kumari Selja is the new Social Justice and Empowerment minister in place of Mukul Wasnik, who had resigned ahead of the Cabinet reshuffle.
Five Ministers of State have been given independent charge. They are Jyotiraditya Scindia, Power, shifting from Industries and Commerce ministry. Bharatsinh Solanki, MoS for Railways, has been shifted to the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation. Sachin Pilot has been given the charge of Corporate Affairs shifting from Communication and IT, K H Muniappa from Railways to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Jitendra Singh from Home ministry to Youth Affairs and Sports.
AIR correspondent reports that the Prime Minister has said the cabinet expansion is a combination of youth, experience and relevance of portfolios. He said the new team is ready to face the challenges.
