NDA ministers take charge assuring continuous efforts to speed up growth, innovation

Focus on percolating the policies to ground level

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday assumed charge as the Minister of Cooperation, vowing to bolster the cooperative sector by effectively implementing policies at the grassroots level. Shah, a two-time MP from Gujarat and a close confidant of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has held the cooperation portfolio since July 2021, when the new cooperation ministry was established. “We laid the foundation for the development of the cooperative sector in the last tenure. We will focus on percolating the policies to the ground level in the next five years,” Shah stated, underlining his commitment to the sector’s growth. The ministry is set to initiate the implementation of a 100-day development plan for the cooperative sector, Shah informed.

Amit Shah, Cooperation Minister & Home Minister

keen on semicon, telecom tech, manufacturing tech

New Delhi: Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday said the government will push ahead with its tech-driven agenda of cementing India’s global lead in semiconductor and electronics manufacturing and as a technology and digital hub.

Taking charge of Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), he said the Modi government’s Digital India initiatives have empowered the common man, bringing transformative changes through Jan Dhan, Aadhaar, and other enabling programmes over the last 10 years. Vaishnaw retained his electronics and IT portfolio in Modi 3.0 government. He took charge as the minister of electronics and IT on Tuesday morning, after assuming charge of the railways as well information and broadcasting ministries.

Ashwini Vaishnaw, Electronics, IT Minister

Holding 2 portfolios

New Delhi: BJP President J P Nadda on Tuesday assumed charge of Union Chemicals and Fertilizers Ministry. In the previous government, BJP leader Mansukh Mandaviya was the minister of chemicals and fertilizers. Nadda was allocated the health ministry as well as the chemicals and fertilizers ministry on Monday, a day after taking oath as a cabinet minister. He held the health portfolio during the Modi government’s first term before he took over as the BJP’s working president in 2019 and became a full-fledged party president in January 2020 following Amit Shah’s appointment as Union Home Minister. Nadda’s term as BJP president ended in January and he was given a six-month extension to oversee the Lok Sabha 2024 elections.

J P Nadda, Chemicals & Fertilizers Minister & Health Minister

implementing labour reforms

New Delhi: Mansukh Mandaviya, who served as the union health minister at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021, took charge of the labour ministry on Tuesday.After assuming the charge, Mandaviya met top brass of the ministry. However, he did not offer any comments about challenges or his plan of action in the ministry. Mandaviya has been inducted into the Union Cabinet for the second time in the NDA government. He has replaced Bhupender Yadav, who won Lok Sabha elections from Alwar in Rajasthan and was sworn in as a cabinet minister on Sunday. The big challenge before Mandaviya is to implement labour reforms which mandate consolidating 44 labour laws into four codes on wages, social security, industrial relation and occupational safety, health and working conditions.

Mansukh Mandaviya, Labour Minister

To expand processing units across the country

New Delhi: In a remarkable political comeback, Chirag Paswan, the two-time MP from Bihar and chief of Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), on Tuesday assumed charge as Minister of Food Processing Industries. The 42-year-old, who solidified his status as the “real” political heir of his late father Ram Vilas Paswan, expressed his commitment to unlocking the vast potential of the food processing sector. “There is huge potential in the food processing sector, and the 100-day plan will be ready after discussion with ministry officials,” Paswan said, underscoring the sector’s importance in directly benefiting farmers. He emphasized the need to expand processing units across the country, primarily in areas dependent on the farm sector. Acknowledging India’s lagging performance in food processing, Paswan vowed to make concerted efforts to elevate the sector to new heights.

Chirag Paswan, Food Processing Minister

To deal with high power demand, coal supply issues

New Delhi: RSS pracharak and Haryana’s former chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Tuesday took charge as union power minister in the Modi 3.0 government. Khattar has replaced R K Singh who lost election from Arrah in Bihar. After assuming charge of the ministry earlier in the morning, Khattar met heads of public sector undertakings in the power sector and other top brass of his ministry to understand the dynamics of the sector. However, he did not offer any comments to media persons about the key challenges and his plan of action for at least next 100 days in the power sector. As a power minister, Khattar will have to deal with various issues including high power demand and coal supply issues faced by electricity producers across the country. The power demand has already touched an all-time high of 250 GW in May this year. Earlier, the ministry had projected that peak power demand was estimated to touch 260 GW during this summer.

Manohar Lal Khattar, Power Minister

Policy reforms in focus

New Delhi: Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia on Tuesday said there has been a tremendous revolution in the telecom department under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he will try his best to ensure that the ministry delivers as per the aspirations of the Prime Minister as well as 140 crore people. Scindia has been given the charge of the Telecom Ministry in the new Cabinet, his second stint in the department. The minister previously served as the junior telecom minister from 2007 to 2009. The minister said India Post and telecom divisions have a tremendous role to play at the local as well as at the global level. Scindia switched to the BJP from the Congress in 2020 and was made Civil Aviation Minister in 2021.

Born on January 1, 1971, Jyotiraditya Scindia entered politics after his father Madhavrao Scindia’s untimely death in a plane crash in 2001.

Jyotiraditya M Scindia,Telecom Minister

Addressing challenges in agri, farming community

New Delhi: Senior BJP leader and four-time former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan took charge of the Union Agriculture Ministry on Tuesday. He has also been allocated the Rural Development Ministry in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new Cabinet. The 65-year-old leader, popularly known as “mama” (maternal uncle) and “paon-paon wale bhaiya” (foot soldier), took oath as part of the Prime Minister’s Council of Ministers on Sunday, marking a significant milestone in his over three-decade-long political career. With his extensive experience in governance and deep connect with the rural populace, Chouhan’s appointment as the Union Agriculture Minister is expected to bring fresh impetus to the government’s efforts in addressing the challenges faced by the agriculture sector and the farming community.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Agriculture Minister