Portfolios of PM’s new-look Cabinet announced

Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani has been shifted to Textiles Ministry. Mr. Prakash Javadekar, who was promoted as Cabinet minister in yesterday’s expansion, will replace her as the new Human Resources Development Minister. M Venkaiah Naidu, who was the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, has been made Information and Broadcasting minister. Mr. Naidu will continue to hold the charge of Urban Development Ministry. Chemicals and Fertilizer Minister Anant Kumar will be the new Parliamentary Affairs Minister. D V Sadananda Gowda has been shifted from Law Ministry to Statistics and Programme Implementation, while IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has been given the additional charge of Law and Justice ministry. MJ Akbar has been appointed as minister of state in the External Affairs Ministry. Jayant Sinha has been shifted from Finance to Civil Aviation as Minister of State. Sanjeev Kumar Balyan has been moved from Agriculture to Water Resources Ministry. Anupriya Patel has been appointed as Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare and Ajay Tamta as the minister of state in Textiles Ministry. Narendra Tomar is the new Rural Development Minister. SS Ahluwalia has been allotted Agriculture and the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry. Anil Madhav Dave has been given the charge of Environment Ministry while Vijay Goel will be the new Sports Minister. AIR correspondent reports that Six lawyers, a specialist in cancer surgery and a PhD degree holder are among Ministers who were inducted in Union Government. Four ministers have post-graduate degree, five are graduate and two are undergraduates. Majority of them have served in central and state governments as ministers and officials. Yesterday's reshuffle is a strong message from the Prime Minister that the performance of individual ministers is being closely monitored at the highest level. It also shows that the government is catering to its social and political constituencies. The expansion comes after an exhaustive vetting and selection process to find the best talent.