A day after the reboot of the Union Cabinet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s second term, a number of newly appointed ministers took charge of their assignments on Thursday. After the July 7 expansion, the Union ministry will now operate at 95% capacity, with just four positions vacant.
Modi in his second innings, at a time when India is at a critical crossroad during the COVID-19 pandemic, is building a fresh team which will lay the foundation of a new India, and, of course, will help the BJP in the 2024 general elections.
In one of the biggest ministry expansions in India’s history, 36 new ministers have been inducted, seven promoted to Cabinet rank, while 12 sitting ministers have been shown the door.
Yesterday, two major political developments took place which indicated that the BJP has started preparing for the polls besides appeasing its allies. In the first development, Thawar Chand Gehlot was appointed Governor of Karnataka to make more space for new ministers.
Later in the day, a new ministry was created – the Ministry of Cooperation. The focus has been on Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal. Uttar Pradesh is the most crucial state for the BJP given the number of Lok Sabha seats.
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had introduced a Results Framework Document (RFD) to evaluate the performance of his Cabinet colleagues, but had to shelve it after some ministers opposed such evaluation.
However, Modi adopted this performance approach. Twelve of the 53 ministers (which amounts to 22%) who were found lacking were asked to put in their papers. Big names like Ravi Shankar Prasad and Prakash Javadekar, prominent spokespersons of the government, were among the 12 asked to leave.
Seven of the 53 ministers (13%), who scored well in the evaluation, have been elevated. Apart from performance, the focus has been on youth, inclusiveness, broader representation to communities, and faces with administrative experience.
Currently, 27 ministers out of 77 are from the OBC community, 12 from the SC and eight from the ST community, representing around 60% of the ministry strength.
Below is the full list of new ministers in Modi Cabinet:
Cabinet Ministers
Narayan Rane
Sarbananda Sonowal : Ports and Shipping, AYUSH Ministry.
Dr Virendra Kumar
Jyotiraditya Scindia : Civil Aviation.
Ramchandra Prasad Singh : Steel Ministry.
Ashwini Vaishnav : Railways, Communication & Electronics and Information Technology.
Pashu Pati Kumar Paras: Minister of Food Processing Industries.
Kiren Rijiju : Law and Justice Ministry.
Dharmendra Pradhan : Education Ministry.
Raj Kumar Singh : Power and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
Hardeep Singh Puri : Petroleum, Housing and Urban Development.
Mansukh Mandaviya : Chemicals and Fertilizers, Health Ministry.
Bhupender Yadav
Parshottam Rupala
G Kishen Reddy
Anurag Thakur : Information & Broadcasting and Sports
