Prakash Javadekar takes over HRD Ministry from Smriti Irani after a major cabinet reshuffle

New Delhi: Prakash Javdekar, who was elevated from Minister of State (Independent Charge) to the Cabinet rank on Tuesday, would be holding the charge of the Ministry of Human Resources and Development, which was earlier with Smriti Irani, who would now be holding the portfolio of Ministry of Textiles. Of the 19 new faces inducted as Minister of State (MoS) in the Union Council of Ministers, M.J. Akbar will be MoS for External Affairs; Fagan Singh Kulaste-MoS Health and Family Welfare; S. S. Ahluwalia-Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and Parliamentary Affairs; Rajen Gohain-Railways; C.R.Chaudhary-Steel; Mansukh Lakshmanbhai Mandaviya- Road Transport and Highways, Shipping, and Chemicals and Fertilisers; Vijay Goel-Youth Affairs and Sports (Independent Charge), and Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. Other MoSes included Arjun Ram Meghwal-Finance and Corporate Affairs; Ramdas Athawale- Social Justice and Empowerment; Anupriya Singh Patel-Health and Family Welfare; Anil Madhav Dave-Environment, Forest and Climate Change (Independent Charge); P.P. Chaudhary-Law and Justice, and Electronics and Information Technology; Dr. Subhash Ramrao Bhamre-Defence; Ramesh Chandappa Jigajinagi-Drinking Water and Sanitation; Jaswantsinh Sumanbhai Bhabhor-Tribal Affairs; Mahendra Nath Pandey-Human Resource Development; Parsottam Rupala-Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, and Panchayati Raj; Ajay Tamta-Textiles; and Krishna Raj- Women and Child Development. The portfolios of the Union Council of Ministers: Prime Minister Narendra Modi-Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space, all important policy issues, and all other portfolios not allocated to any minister. Rajnath Singh-Home Affairs; Sushma Swaraj-External Affairs; Arun Jaitley-Finance and Corporate Affairs; M. Venkaiah Naidu-Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation; Nitin Jairam Gadkari-Road Transport and Highways, and Shipping; Manohar Parrikar-Defence; Suresh Prabhu-Railways; D.V. Sadananda Gowda-Statistics and Programme Implementation; Uma Bharati-Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation; Najma A. Heptulla-Minority Affairs; Ramvilas Paswan-Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution; Kalraj Mishra-Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises; Maneka Sanjay Gandhi-Women and Child Development; Ananthkumar-Chemicals and Fertilisers; Ravi Shankar Prasad-Law and Justice, and Electronics and Information Technology; Jagat Prakash Nadda-Health and Family Welfare; Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati-Civil Aviation; Anant Geete-Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises; Harsimrat Kaur Badal-Food Processing Industries; Narendra Singh Tomar-Rural Development; Chaudhary Birender Singh-Steel; Jual Oram-Tribal Affairs; Radha Mohan Singh-Agriculture and Farmers Welfare; Thaawar Chand Gehlot-Social Justice and Empowerment; Dr. Harsh Vardhan-Science and Technology, and Earth Sciences, said sources. The Ministries of Panchayati Raj, Drinking Water and Sanitation, Parliamentary Affairs and Information and Broadcasting remain with the Prime Minister. The other Ministers of State included Rao Inderjit Singh-Planning (Independent Charge), and Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation; Bandaru Dattatreya-Labour and Employment (Independent Charge); Rajiv Pratap Rudy-Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (Independent Charge); Shripad Yesso Naik-AAYUSH (Independent Charge); Dharmendra Pradhan-Petroleum and Natural Gas (Independent Charge); Piyush Goyal-Power (Independent Charge), Coal (Independent Charge), New and Renewable Energy (Independent Charge) and Mines (Independent Charge); Dr. Jitendra Singh-Development of North Eastern Region (Independent Charge), Prime Minister's Office, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space; Nirmala Sitharaman-Commerce and Industry (Independent Charge); Dr. Mahesh Sharma-Culture (Independent Charge), and Tourism (Independent Charge); Manoj Sinha-Communications (Independent Charge) and Railways; General V.K. Singh-External Affairs; Santosh Kumar Gangwar-Finance; Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi-Minority Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs; Ram Kripal Yadav-Rural Development; Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary-Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises; Giriraj Singh-Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises; Hansraj Gangaram Ahir-Home Affairs; G. M. Siddeshwara-Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises; Upendra Kushwaha-Human Resources Development; Radhakrishnan P-Road Transport, Highways and Shipping; Kiren Rijiju-Home Affairs; Krishan Pal-Social Justice & Empowerment; Dr. Sanjeev Kumar Balyan-Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation; Vishnu Deo Sai-Steel; Sudarshan Bhagat-Agriculture and Farmers Welfare; Y.S. Chowdary-Science and Technology, and Earth Science; Jayant Sinha-Civil Aviation; Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore-Information and Broadcasting; Babul Supriyo-Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation; Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti-Food Processing Industries; Vijay Sampla-Social Justice and Empowerment; and C.R. Chaudhary-Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, sources added. The 19 new ministers are from 10 states, 15 have past legislative experience in Parliament and in State Legislatures with 10 of them having served in central and state governments as ministers and officials. Of the new ministers, nine are post-graduates and seven graduates, including seven with degrees in law, two business graduates and a doctor. Vice-President Mohammad Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitely, Ramvilas Paswan, Anant Geete, Sadananda Gowda, Smriti Irani, besides other ministers and dignitaries attended the swearing-in ceremony in the Durbar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhawan.