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.
Shri Piyush Goyal is new Railways minister in addition to coal.
Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi was also elevated to Cabinet-rank.
Shri Suresh Prabhu is now new Commerce minister while
Shri Nitin Gadkari has been given additional charge of Water resources.
Shri 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.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated all those who have taken oath today. In a tweet, Mr Modi said, their experience and wisdom will add immense value to the council of Ministers. He also congratulate Dharmendra Pradhan, Piyush Goyal, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Nirmala Sitharaman on joining the Union Cabinet.