Government sources said a lot of thought had gone into the appointments. The 53 ministries will be handled by 30 cabinet ministers and two ministers of state with independent charge. Some related ministries like health and chemicals and fertilizer; education and skill development; railways and IT and communication; commerce and industry with textiles; and culture, tourism and North-East have been brought under one cabinet minister. Home, external affairs and education will have three ministers of state each.
The Prime Minister has retained science and technology while Amit Shah has been given additional charge of the newly created ministry of cooperation, which had sparked curiosity after the decision to set it up was announced Tuesday.
Among those with key responsibilities, Mansukh Mandaviya – who was elevated to cabinet rank – has been put in charge of health, as also chemicals and fertilizer, of which he used to be a junior minister. This move clubs the health and pharma sectors under one minister in the wake of new challenges and experiences gained during the Covid pandemic.
NDA partners also accommodated
Dharmendra Pradhan will head the education ministry along with skill development in another bid to keep related ministries together. Pradhan has held the skill development portfolio in the past. He’s been moved from the petroleum and natural gas ministry, charge of which will now be held by Hardeep Singh Puri, who has become a cabinet minister. Puri will continue to head the urban development ministry.
Former bureaucrat Ashwini Vaishnaw, an IIT graduate who served in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee PMO, has been given in charge of railways along with communications, and IT, an allocation that was made keeping in view his work experience.
Piyush Goyal has got additional charge of textiles. He will continue to hold the commerce and industry as well as the consumer affairs, food and public distribution portfolio. Smriti Irani has been asked to focus on the women and child development ministry and divested of textiles.
Jyotiraditya Scindia has been appointed civil aviation minister while former Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal gets charge of ports, shipping and waterways from Nitin Gadkari, who will keep road transport and highways. He has also been given charge of the AYUSH ministry.
Agriculture, which has been in the news due to the new laws and the farmers’ agitation that followed, will continue to be held by Narendra Singh Tomar. He has been divested of additional charge of other ministries. The social justice ministry will be held by Virendra Kumar, who replaces Thawarchand Gehlot.
Bihar leader Giriraj Singh, who has courted controversy in the past due to various remarks, gets the key rural development ministry.
Among the new cabinet ministers, Narayan Rane will hold charge of the MSME ministry while Anurag Thakur has been made the new sports minister, weeks ahead of the Olympics. Kiren Rijiju is a surprise appointment in the law ministry.
BJP general secretary Bhupender Yadav will handle the crucial labour and employment ministry and environment. NDA partners have also been accommodated in some of the business ministries. RCP Singh is the new steel minister while Pashupati Kumar Paras will be in charge of food processing. Mahendra Nath Pandey, a senior leader from UP, will be minister of heavy industry while G Kishan Reddy gets tourism, culture and development of North-East.
Parshottam Rupala hashas been given charge of the ministry of fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying.
Among the ministers of state are Rajeev Chandrasekhar (electronics and IT; skill development), Meenakshi Lekhi and Rajkumar Ranjan Singh (both external affairs), Ajay Bhatt (defence, tourism), Ajay Kumar and Nisith Pramanik (both home), Anupriya Patel (commerce).
