Cabinet expansion: 3 elevated to Cabinet rank, major reshuffle in portfolios

PTI

New Delhi, 19 January 2011: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has expanded his Council of Ministers on Wednesday. The swearing-in of the new incumbents took place in a ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

 

While three Ministers of State have been elevated to the ranks of Cabinet Ministers, two Ministers of State have been given independent charge of their Ministries. Dr. Singh has also effected a major reshuffle of portfolios.

 

Praful Patel, Sriprakash Jaiswal and Salman Khurshid, currently Ministers of State, have been elevated to Cabinet rank. Mr. Patel has been shifted from the Civil Aviation Ministry to the Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Ministry. Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi gets additional charge of Civil Aviation.

 

Beni Prasad Verma, K.C. Venugopal and Ashwani Kumar are the new entrants in the Council of Ministers. Mr. Verma will be MoS (Independent charge) in the Steel Ministry. Mr. Kumar will be MoS in the Planning and Parliamentary Affairs and the Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Ministry, while Mr. Venugopal will be MoS in the Power Ministry.

 

President Pratibha Patil with newly sworn-in Ministers (from left) Salman Khurshid, Ashwani Kumar, Sriprakash Jaiswal and Praful Patel at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Wednesday.

 

Mr. Jaiswal has been elevated as Cabinet Minister of the Coal portfolio he currently holds. Mr. Khurshid is the new Cabinet Minister for Water Resources.

 

Sharad Pawar has shed the Consumer Affairs and Food and Civil Supplies portfolio, retaining the Agriculture Ministry. He also gets Food Processing Industries.

 

Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy has been shifted to the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry, while Kapil Sibal retains Telecom and HRD, losing the Science and Technology portfolio.

 

Virbhadra Singh has been shifted from the Steel Ministry to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises while Vilasrao Deshmukh has been moved from Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises to Rural Development with additional charge of Panchayati Raj.

 

M.S. Gill has been moved from the Sports and Youth Affairs Ministry to Statistics and Programme Implementation. Ajay Maken, who will be a new entrant as MoS (Independent charge), will take over the Sports and Youth Affairs portfolio.

 

In addition to Mr. Maken, K. V. Thomas has been made MoS (Independent carge). Mr. Thomas retains Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution in the elevated position.

 

B.K. Handique has been divested of the Mines portfolio, while retaining the Development of North Eastern Region portfolio. Dinsha Patel, MoS Railways, has been shifted to Mines and promoted as MoS (Independent charge).

 

C.P. Joshi has been shifted from the Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Ministry to the Road Transport and Highways Ministry. Kumari Selja has divested of the Tourism portfolio but gets additional charge of Culture, while retaining the Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation portfolio.

 

Subodh Kant Sahay has been shifted from the Food Processing Industries Ministry to Tourism. Pawan Kumar Bansal has retained the Parliamentary Affairs portfolio, while losing the Water Resources Ministry, which has been given to Mr. Khurshid.

 

Changes have also been made in the portfolios of various Ministers of State. E. Ahamed has been shifted from the Railways to External Affairs while Harish Rawat has been moved from Labour to Agriculture and Food Processing Industries.

 

V. Narayansami has been made MoS in the Prime Minister’s Office, Department of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension. He retains the Parliamentary Affairs while losing Statistics and Programme Implementation.

 

Gurudas Kamat has been shifted from the Department of Telecom to Home Affairs in the capacity of MoS. A. Sai Pratap has been made MoS in the Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Ministry.

 

Bharatsinh Solanki has been moved to Railways as MoS while Jitin Prasada has been made MoS in the Road Transport and Highways Ministry. Madhav S. Khandela has been moved to Tribal Affairs.

 

R.P.N. Singh will be the MoS in Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry, while Tusharbhai Chaudhary will be MoS in the Road Transport and Highways Ministry.