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BIG STORY JULY 09, 2021 | The Indian Eye 5

age done by the pandemic seems President Ram Nath Kovind administered the oath of office and secrecy to is clear from the new ministers
to be a government priority, the members of the Council of Ministers during the swearing ceremony as part brought into the Cabinet and
new composition seems to be of Union Cabinet expansion, at Rashtrapati Bhawan on Wednesday. (ANI) given key responsibilities. Hours
also driven by caste equations after taking charge as the new
and the upcoming elections in Railways Minister in Prime Min-
several crucial states prior to the ister Narendra Modi’s cabinet,
general election scheduled for Ashwini Vaishnaw ordered of-
2024. This became evident on ficials and staffers in his office
Thursday as a day after the ma- to work in two shifts. The first
jor reshuffle, Bharatiya Janata shift will start at 7 am and end at
Party Other Backward Castes 4 pm while the second shift will
(OBC) Morcha National Presi- start at 3 pm and end at 12 am in
dent Dr K Laxman said 27 OBC midnight, an order by his office
ministers in the Union Cabinet said on Thursday. According to
shows government’s intent to DJ Narain, ADG PR, Ministry
empower OBCs. Union Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman and Union Minister for of Railways, the order has been
“In many ways this Cabinet Women & Child Development Smriti Irani along with newly appointed issued only for MR cell (minis-
is historic, one as for the first women cabinet ministers, in New Delhi on Wednesday. (ANI) ter’s office) and not private or
time after 70 years of Indepen- Railway staff.
dence there has been adequate arate ministries for fisheries and in the expansion of the council After taking charge, the new
representation to the BC com- handlooms highlights the gov- of ministers carried out by Prime Minister had said that the Rail-
munities,” Laxman said, adding ernment’s desire to support a Minister Narendra Modi. ways is a major part of Modi’s vi-
that the fact that 27 ministers of section of people who face the The Apna Dal leader was sion and he would work to make
the union cabinet belong to the threat of Globalisation and ex- elected to the lower house from the vision a reality. “His (PM
OBC sections shows the intent pressed his gratitude towards the Mirzapur, UP, in 2019. She is into Modi’s) vision for railways is to
of the government to empower Prime Minister,” said Laxman. her second term as an MP and transform the lives of the people,
OBC’s. He further said that the The induction of young min- had served as Union Minister of that everyone - common man,
cabinet aims for geographical isters and several women in the State for Health in the first term farmers, the poor - gets the ben-
and social inclusion for there is government is a clear sign that of the Modi government. She efit of the railway. I will work for
adequate representation to the Modi wants to give a positive was the first woman to take oath that vision,” said Vaishnaw.
SC’s, ST’s and women across In- message to the people. After as Union Minister on Wednes- A former IAS officer, Vaish-
dia to map regional imbalances. taking charge as the Minister of day. The women MPs who took naw has been appointed the
He also added that the pres- State for Commerce and Indus- oath of office on Wednesday are Minister of Railways, Minister
ent cabinet is not only historic try, Anupriya Singh Patel, said Anupriya Patel, Shobha Karand- of Communications, and Minis-
for its social inclusion but also that she is happy to see a talented laje, Darshana Vikram Jardosh, ter of Electronics and Informa-
for the fact that it’s the young- pool of women in the Council of Meenakshi Lekhi, Annpurna tion Technology.
est cabinet post-independence. Ministers. “I am thankful to PM Devi, Pratima Bhoumik, and The Railway Ministry was
“Many governments used the Modi for this opportunity. There Bharati Pravin Pawar. earlier under Piyush Goyal who
names of Mahatma Gandhi and should be maximum women par- It is not just the representa- has been given charge of the
Dr Ambedkar to pay lip service ticipation in the Council of Min- tion given to castes with focus Ministries of Commerce and In-
for the marginalised sections isters, happy to see a talented on elections, the Modi govern- dustry; Consumer Affairs, Food
but Prime Minister Modi is the pool of women in the CoM,” said ment also seems to be working and Public Distribution and
first to actually implement their Patel. Patel is among the seven on a change in the government Textiles. The 50-year-old also
policies he added. He also men- women MPs who took oath as functioning, with better delivery replaced Ravi Shankar Prasad,
tioned that the creation of sep- union ministers on Wednesday of services to the people. This Continued on next page... >>

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