Three top ministers in Modi’s Cabinet hit the ground running on their first day on the job

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, May 28, 2014: Three top ministers in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cabinet found themselves attending to sensitive situations within minutes of taking charge of their ministries on Tuesday.

 

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was exposed to the intricacies of diplomacy as she walked straight into Modi’s meetings with leaders of Mauritius and the seven SAARC states, including Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. By afternoon, she was handling the complexities usually associated with talks between India and Pakistan, gaining a crucial baptism-by-fire experience.

Swaraj sat in on the meetings as Modi and the leaders of SAARC countries discussed weighty issues such as terrorism, the reconciliation and reconstruction process in war-torn Afghanistan and development of greater trade and connectivity.

 

Another minister who got neck deep into work was new Railway Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda, who began his stint by handling the Gorakhdham train accident that claimed 25 lives. Gowda’s first meeting dealt with railway safety, even though, further on, his primary challenge would be implementing Modi’s grand vision for the modernisation of the railways and its extensive network.

Arun Jaitley, who has the heaviest workload in the Union cabinet as Finance and Defence minister, got a chilling reality check when he began the day with news of the crash of one of the IAF’s ageing Mig-21 jets near Srinagar. A young pilot, Squadron Leader S. Raghuvanshi, was killed in the incident. Both Swaraj and Jaitley are new to handling their responsibilities as members of the crucial Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), as is Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who chose not to take charge on Tuesday.

Jaitley, who reached his South Block office in the afternoon after taking charge of the Finance Ministry, immediately offered words of condolence to the family of the pilot and promised to give a much-needed push to the process of acquiring modern gear and weapons systems for the armed forces. He said the slowdown in procurements in the past few years had become a cause of concern and reversing this trend by clearing the backlog will be one of the priorities of the new BJP-led government.