Our Correspondent / NEW DELHI
Nine new Ministers of state were inducted in the Union Council of Ministers today. Four Ministers of state were elevated to the cabinet rank. Country today got a woman Defence minister in Nirmala Sitharaman.
Dharmendra Pradhan is given additional charge of Skill Development. Piyush Goyal is new Railways minister in addition to coal. Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi was also elevated to Cabinet-rank.
Suresh Prabhu is now new Commerce minister while Nitin Gadkari has been given additional charge of Water resources. R K Singh is new power minister given independent charge.
Santosh Kumar Gangwar is new minister of Labour and Employment. Col Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore is new minister of state independent charge youth affairs and sports in addition to I&B ministry. Former IAS officer K Alphons has been given independent charge of tourism ministry. Former IFS officer Hardeep Singh Puri is independent charge of the ministry of Housing and Urban affairs.
President Ram Nath Kovind administered the oath of office and secrecy to them at Rashtrapati Bhavan. New Ministers include former Mumbai Police chief Satyapal Singh. Lok Sabha MP’s from Madhya Pradesh Virendra Kumar, from Karnataka Anant Kumar Hegde, from Rajasthan Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, from Bihar Ashwini Kumar Choubey and Raj Kumar Singh. Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh Shiv Pratap Shukla also takes oath today.
President of India allocates portfolios of the Council of Ministers
The President of India, as advised by the Prime Minister, has directed the allocation of portfolios among the following members of the Union Council of Ministers:-
| Shri Narendra Modi | Prime Minister and also in-charge of: Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Department of Atomic Energy; Department of Space; and All important policy issues; and All other portfolios not allocated to any Minister. |
CABINET MINISTERS
| 1. | Shri Raj Nath Singh | Minister of Home Affairs. |
| 2. | Smt. Sushma Swaraj | Minister of External Affairs. |
| 3. | Shri Arun Jaitley | Minister of Finance; and Minister of Corporate Affairs. |
| 4. | Shri Nitin Jairam Gadkari | Minister of Road Transport and Highways; Minister of Shipping; and Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. |
| 5. | Shri Suresh Prabhu | Minister of Commerce and Industry. |
| 6. | Shri D.V. Sadananda Gowda | Minister of Statistics and Programme Implementation. |
| 7. | Sushri Uma Bharati | Minister of Drinking Water and Sanitation. |
| 8. | Shri Ramvilas Paswan | Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. |
| 9. | Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi | Minister of Women and Child Development. |
| 10. | Shri Ananthkumar | Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers; and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs. |
| 11. | Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad | Minister of Law and Justice; and Minister of Electronics and Information Technology. |
| 12. | Shri Jagat Prakash Nadda | Minister of Health and Family Welfare. |
| 13. | Shri Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati | Minister of Civil Aviation. |
| 14. | Shri Anant Geete | Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises. |
| 15. | Smt. Harsimrat Kaur Badal | Minister of Food Processing Industries. |
| 16. | Shri Narendra Singh Tomar | Minister of Rural Development; Minister of Panchayati Raj; and Minister of Mines. |
| 17. | Shri Chaudhary Birender Singh | Minister of Steel. |
| 18. | Shri Jual Oram | Minister of Tribal Affairs. |
| 19. | Shri Radha Mohan Singh | Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. |
| 20. | Shri Thaawar Chand Gehlot | Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment. |
| 21. | Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani | Minister of Textiles; and Minister of Information and Broadcasting. |
| 22. | Dr. Harsh Vardhan | Minister of Science and Technology; Minister of Earth Sciences; and Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. |
| 23. | Shri Prakash Javadekar | Minister of Human Resource Development. |
| 24. | Shri Dharmendra Pradhan | Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas; and Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. |
| 25. | Shri Piyush Goyal | Minister of Railways; and Minister of Coal. |
| 26. | Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman | Minister of Defence. |
| 27. | Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi | Minister of Minority Affairs. |
MINISTERS OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE)
| 1. | Rao Inderjit Singh | Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Planning; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers. | ||
| 2. | Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar | Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Labour and Employment. | ||
| 3. | Shri Shripad Yesso Naik | Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH). | ||
| 4. | Dr. Jitendra Singh | Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region; Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office; Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Minister of State in the Department of Atomic Energy; and Minister of State in the Department of Space. | ||
| 5. | Dr. Mahesh Sharma | Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Culture; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. | ||
| 6. | Shri Giriraj Singh | Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. | ||
| 7. | Shri Manoj Sinha | Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Communications; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways. | ||
| 8. | Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore | Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. | ||
| 9. | Shri Raj Kumar Singh | Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Power; and Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. | ||
| 10. | Shri Hardeep Singh Puri | Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. | ||
| 11. | Shri Alphons Kannanthanam | Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Tourism; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. | ||
MINISTERS OF STATE
| 1. | Shri Vijay Goel | Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. |
| 2. | Shri Radhakrishnan P. | Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Shipping. |
| 3. | Shri S.S. Ahluwalia | Minister of State in the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation. |
| 4. | Shri Ramesh Chandappa Jigajinagi | Minister of State in the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation. |
| 5. | Shri Ramdas Athawale | Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. |
| 6. | Shri Vishnu Deo Sai | Minister of State in the Ministry of Steel. |
| 7. | Shri Ram Kripal Yadav | Minister of State in the Ministry of Rural Development. |
| 8. | Shri Hansraj Gangaram Ahir | Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs. |
| 9. | Shri Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary | Minister of State in the Ministry of Mines; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Coal. |
| 10. | Shri Rajen Gohain | Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways. |
| 11. | General (Retd.) V. K. Singh | Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs. |
| 12. | Shri Parshottam Rupala | Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Panchayati Raj. |
| 13. | Shri Krishan Pal | Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. |
| 14. | Shri Jaswantsinh Sumanbhai Bhabhor | Minister of State in the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. |
| 15. | Shri Shiv Pratap Shukla | Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance. |
| 16. | Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey | Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. |
| 17. | Shri Sudarshan Bhagat | Minister of State in the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. |
| 18. | Shri Upendra Kushwaha | Minister of State in the Ministry of Human Resource Development. |
| 19. | Shri Kiren Rijiju | Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs. |
| 20. | Dr. Virendra Kumar | Minister of State in the Ministry of Women and Child Development; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Minority Affairs. |
| 21. | Shri Anantkumar Hegde | Minister of State in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. |
| 22. | Shri M. J. Akbar | Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs. |
| 23. | Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti | Minister of State in the Ministry of Food Processing Industries. |
| 24. | Shri Y. S. Chowdary | Minister of State in the Ministry of Science and Technology; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Earth Sciences. |
| 25. | Shri Jayant Sinha | Minister of State in the Ministry of Civil Aviation. |
| 26. | Shri Babul Supriyo | Minister of State in the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises. |
| 27. | Shri Vijay Sampla | Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. |
| 28. | Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal | Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Water Resources, |
| 29. | Shri Ajay Tamta | Minister of State in the Ministry of Textiles. |
| 30. | Smt. Krishna Raj | Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. |
| 31. | Shri Mansukh L. Mandaviya | Minister of State in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways; Minister of State in the Ministry of Shipping; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers. |
| 32. | Smt. Anupriya Patel | Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. |
| 33. | Shri C.R. Chaudhary | Minister of State in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. |
| 34. | Shri P.P. Chaudhary | Minister of State in the Ministry of Law and Justice; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. |
| 35. | Dr. Subhash Ramrao Bhamre | Minister of State in the Ministry of Defence. |
| 36. | Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat | Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. |
| 37. | Dr. Satya Pal Singh | Minister of State in the Ministry of Human Resource Development; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Water Resources, |