India: New ministers take charge after Cabinet reshuffle

New Delhi - The swearing-in ceremony took place at Rashtrapati Bhavan amid Covid-19 protocols.

After a major reshuffle in the Union cabinet, new ministers, including Ashwini Vaishnaw, the new Railways and IT minister; Anurag Thakur, the Information and Broadcasting, and Sports minister; and Meenakshi Lekhi - junior minister in the External Affairs and Culture ministries, took charge on Thursday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday brought in 36 new faces to his Union Cabinet and promoted seven existing ministers.

All newly inducted inductees in Modi's council of ministers will meet the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president Jagat Prakash Nadda at party headquarters on Thursday, informed party officials.

As many as 43 leaders took oath on Wednesday in the first Union Cabinet reshuffle and expansion after Prime Minister Modi returned to power for a second term in May 2019.

The swearing-in ceremony, which took place at Rashtrapati Bhavan amid Covid-19 protocols, came days ahead of the monsoon session of parliament.

Some of the key figures inducted into the Union cabinet include Jyotiraditya Scindia, Bhupender Yadav, Sarbananda Sonowal and Pashupati Kumar Paras.

Seven women MPs took oath as union ministers in the expanded council of ministers.

They include Anupriya Patel, Shobha Karandlaje, Darshana Vikram Jardosh, Meenakshi Lekhi, Annapurna Devi, Pratima Bhoumik and Bharati Pravin Pawar.

Meanwhile, seven Ministers of State (MoS) have been promoted as Union Cabinet Ministers. These include G Kishan Reddy, Kiren Rijiju, Anurag Singh Thakur, Hardeep Singh Puri, Raj Kumar Singh, Parshottam Rupala and Mansukh Mandaviya.

Anurag Thakur takes charges as I&B Minister

Anurag Thakur on Thursday took charge as the Minister of Information and Broadcasting. Speaking to reporters after assuming charge, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has done a great job in reaching out to people in the last seven years through this ministry, and that he would like to take the legacy forward.

Thakur said he would like to reach out to people through the ministry.

“I will make every possible effort to carry out the responsibility bestowed upon me by the prime minister,” he said.

Ashwini Vaishnaw takes charge as Minister of Railways

Bureaucrat-entrepreneur-turned-politician Ashwini Vaishnaw took charge as the country’s new railway minister on Thursday. A former IAS officer of the 1994-batch, Vaishnaw has handled important responsibilities for over 15 years and was particularly known for his contribution to the public-private partnership (PPP) framework in infrastructure, something that will help him in the rail sector.

He has also held leadership roles across major global companies such as General Electric and Siemens.

Vaishnaw has done his MBA from the Wharton School, Pennsylvania University, and M.Tech from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur.

He will also hold two other important portfolios of Communications and Electronics and Information Technology.

“Excellent work has been done in the Railways over the past 67 years. I am here to take the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi forward,” Vaishnaw said while he took the charge.

• India