Health, education, labour ministers quit ahead of Union Cabinet reshuffle

New Delhi: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, Union Labour minister Santosh Gangwar, Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Union minister Babul Supriyo resigns and Union Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister D V Sadananda Gowda has resigned from the Union Cabinet ahead of the scheduled Cabinet reshuffle this evening.

The expansion is likely to see the entry of several new faces, with the BJP expected to give coalition partners more room in the Council of Ministers.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan resigned today, hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet reshuffle.

Gangwar, who held the position of Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Labour and Employment resigned from his post early this morning.

When asked whether he has resigned from the post of Labour Minister, Gangwar answered in the affirmative. "Yes I have resigned," he told PTI.

He, however, said he is not aware what his new role in the government will be.

This will be the first reshuffle in the Council of Ministers by Prime Minister Narendra Modi since he assumed charge for a second term in May 2019.

Gangwar played an important role in labour reforms as four labour codes on wages, industrial relations, social security and occupational safety, health and working conditions were passed during his tenure in Modi 2.0.

The ministry has firmed up rules under the codes, while states are yet to finalise rules in their domain.

Since labour is a concurrent subject, states are also required to firm up and notify rules under the labour codes in order to operationalise those across the country.

He was the Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas with additional charge of Parliamentary Affairs in the 13th Lok Sabha. Prior to this, Gangwar was the Minister of State for Science and Technology with additional charge of Parliamentary Affairs in 1999.

Gangwar was also the chairman of the PAC (Public Accounts Committee).

Earlier, Gangwar held the charge of the Ministry of Textiles (Independent Charge). He joined the Ministry of Finance as Minister of State from July 5, 2016 and served till September 3, 2017. During his tenure he was a member of the GST Council and was instrumental in the successful rolling out of GST in India.

He was the Minister of State for Labour and Employment (Independent Charge) from September 3, 2017 in the 16th Lok Sabha.

Besides being the chemicals and fertilizers minister in the Narendra Modi government, Gowda has also held portfolios like Railways, Law, Statistics and Programme Implementation.

Pokhriyal, who tested positive for COVID-19 on April 21, was admitted to AIIMS in June again following post Covid complications. He has resigned from his post citing health reasons.

Dhotre, who represents Akola constituency of Maharashtra also took charge as MoS for Education, Communications and Electronics and Information Technology, in May 2019.