Vaishnaw, Thakur, Mandaviya, other newly-appointed ministers take charge

New Delhi: Promising to work according to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision for the country, the ministers, took charge on Thursday after the biggest reshuffle in Modi's Union Council of Ministers a day earlier.

Newly-appointed Union ministers, including Ashwini Vaishnaw, Anurag Thakur and Mansukh Mandaviya, took charge of their respective ministries on Thursday.

Bureaucrat-entrepreneur-turned-politician Vaishnaw, 51, took charge as the country's new Railways minister, while Thakur who was elevated as Information and Broadcasting minister also assumed office.

Vaishnaw also holds two other important portfolios of Communications and Electronics and Information Technology.

"I thank the honourable Prime Minister for the great opportunity he has given me to serve the nation. Telecommunications, IT and Railways. There are lots of synergies in the three and I will be working to ensure that his vision is implemented," Vaishnaw told reporters.

Darshana Jardosh took charge as Minister of State for Railways.

Speaking to reporters after assuming charge, Thakur said the Prime Minister has given him a huge responsibility and that he will make best efforts to fulfil it.

Mansukh Mandaviya, a BJP leader from Gujarat, took charge as the new Health minister amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Mandaviya replaces Harsh Vardhan.

Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar, who succeeded Ashwini Kumar Choubey, took charge as the Minister of State (MoS) for Health and Family Welfare.

Ram Chandra Prasad Singh and Kiren Rijiju took charge of Steel and Law Ministries respectively. Singh, a JD(U) leader, is a retired IAS officer.

Bhupender Yadav assumed charge of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change. Veteran parliamentarian Virendra Kumar took office as the country's new Social Justice and Empowerment Minister. Two junior ministers in the ministry Pratima Bhoumik and A Narayanaswamy also took office.

Jitendra Singh took charge as the new Union Science and Technology minister. Singh was on Wednesday allocated two new portfolios — the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Earth Sciences — with Independent charge after a Cabinet reshuffle.

BJP Rajya Sabha member Bhupender Yadav took charge of the Ministry of Labour and Employment as Union Cabinet minister amid the pandemic which has hit the working class, especially informal sector workers, hard.

Minister of Culture, Tourism and DoNER G Kishan Reddy also assumed charge.

Shiv Sena leader Narayan Rane took charge as the new Union MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) minister. Rane said the ministry will work in the direction of creating more jobs and promoting GDP growth. "Today, I have taken the charge. We will think of steps to promote GDP growth and the creation of jobs for youth," he told reporters.

Senior Gujarat BJP leader Parshottam Rupala, who has been promoted as a Cabinet minister, took charge as Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying. Rupala (66), who comes from the influential Kadva Patidar or Patel community in Gujarat, is in charge of the new ministry formed in 2019 in order to promote allied farm activities for enhancing farmers' income.

Subhas Sarkar and Munjapara Mahendrabhai took charge as Minister of State for Education and Women and Child Development Ministries respectively.

Pashupati Kumar Paras, brother of late Union minister and LJP founder Ram Vilas Paswan, on Thursday took charge of the Food Processing ministry. The portfolio was earlier with Union Agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar.

Prahalad Singh Patel also took charge as the Minister of State for Food Processing Industries.

The ministry has assumed more significance in recent years as the government is focusing on increasing the level of processing fruits and vegetables to reduce wastage.

The Central government is also developing several mega food parks across the country with an aim to create jobs and expand the market for processed food.