Prakash Javadekar is new HRD Minister, Smriti Irani sent to Textiles Ministry

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, July 06, 2016: Newly elevated Cabinet Minister Prakash Javadekar was on Tuesday given the important charge of HRD Ministry and incumbent Smriti Irani was made the Textiles Minister replacing Santosh Gangwar who will now be the Minister of State (MoS) for Finance.

On the other hand, Jayant Sinha has been shifted from Finance to Civil Aviation (MoS), a post held by Mahesh Sharma, who will now look after only Culture and Tourism. And DV Sadananda Gowda has been shifted from Law Ministry to Statistics and Programme Implementation and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has got additional charge as Law and Justice.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has shed Information and Broadcasting portfolio. Venkaiah Naidu has been given charge of I&B Ministry.

While Naidu will retain his existing Urban Development and Housing portfolio, he will be replaced as Parliamentary Affairs Minister by Ananth Kumar, who remains Chemical and Fertiliser Minister.

Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha will hold the Communications portfolio too as MoS (Independent Charge).

Among the Cabinet Ministers, Chaudhary Birender Singh has been shifted to Steel from the Ministry of Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water and Sanitation which has now gone to Narendra Singh Tomar. Tomar was earlier Minister of Mines and Steel.

Piyush Goyal, who is the MoS in Power, Coal and Renewable energy with Independent charge, has got additional Mines portfolio.

Haribhai Chaudhary has been shifted from the Home Ministry to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and will be replaced by Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, who was the minister of state in Chemicals and Fertilisers.

Other portfolio allocations that were done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today are as follows -

- Arjun Ram Meghwal, Finance, Corporate affairs (MoS).

- Ramdas Athawale, Social Justice and Empowerment (MoS).

- MJ Akbar, External affairs (MoS).

- Ananth Kumar, Parliamentary Affairs Minister (MoS).

- Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Finance department (MoS).

- Faggan Singh Kulaste, Health and Family Welfare Minister (MoS).

- Hansraj Gangaram, Home Affairs (MoS).

- Ramesh Chandappa Jigajinagi, Drinking Water and Sanitation (MoS).

- Anupriya Patel, Health and Family Welfare (MoS).

- Ajay Tamta, Textiles, (MoS).

- SS Aluhwalia, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and Parliamentary Affairs Department (MoS).

PM Modi today inducted 19 new faces in the second expansion of his government ahead of political battles in Uttar Pradesh and other states. Five ministers of state were dropped in the second exercise undertaken by the PM in a little more than two years since he took over in May, 2014.

After the dropping of five ministers, today’s expansion took the total strength of the Council of Ministers to 78, just keeping it under the constitutionally allowed maximum.

A Rashtrapati Bhavan communique said that the President has accepted the resignation of Sanawar Lal Jat (Water Resources), Mohanbhai Kalyanjibhai Kundariya (Agriculture), Nihal Chand (Panchayati Raj), Mansukhbhai Dhanjibhai Vasava (Tribal Affairs) and Ram Shankar Katheria (HRD).