Senior BJP leader Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursday took charge of the key Health and Family Welfare Ministry amid the ongoing Covid pandemic.
Mandaviya was previously the Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and Union Minister of State for Chemical and Fertilisers in the Modi government.
He will also soon take charge of the Chemicals and Fertilisers Ministry. Mandaviya was given the new responsibility after the first cabinet reshuffle in Modi government's second stint on Wednesday.
The Health Ministry was held by Harsh Vardhan, who is one of the top ministers to be dropped in the reshuffle. The Chemicals and Fertilisers Ministry was held by D.V. Sadananda Gowda who is also out of the cabinet.
In a major overhaul, Prime Minister Modi on Wednesday brought in 36 new faces to his Union Cabinet and promoted seven existing ministers. Meanwhile, 12 top ministers, including Harsh Vardhan, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Prakash Javadekar, have been dropped from the Cabinet.
Vaishnaw takes charge as new IT minister
Ashwini Vaishnaw, a Rajya Sabha member from Odisha, has taken charge of the Ministry of Electronics and IT and Railways. He has also taken charge of the Communications Ministry. Vaishnaw succeeded Ravi Shankar Prasad in both the ministries.
A former IAS Officer of 1994 batch, Vaishnaw handled important responsibilities over the last 15 years and was particularly known for his contribution to the PPP framework in infrastructure. He has an MBA degree from Wharton School, Pennsylvania University, and an MTech degree from IIT Kanpur.
Vaishnaw has held leadership roles across major global companies such as General Electric and Siemens. He takes charge of both the ministries at a crucial time when the IT Ministry has been at loggerheads with Twitter over the new IT guidelines.
