Modi Cabinet Reshuffle: The New Union Cabinet

The Modi Government announced a Cabinet Reshuffle. This change comes against the backdrop of a massive review, which has stretched for weeks, undertaken by the BJP top brass. The cabinet reshuffle of the Modi government is going to result in a massive change in the composition of the union ministry. As many as 43 new ministers have taken oath on 7th July at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, 14 existing ministers have resigned from the government till now.

Ministers Dropped

Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister of Law and Justice, Electronics and Information Technology & Communications
Prakash Keshav Javadekar, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Information & Broadcasting; Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises
Harsh Vardhan, Minister of Health and Family Welfare
Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Minister of Human Resource Development
Santosh Gangwar, Minister of State with independent charge in the Ministry of Labour and Employment
Sadananda Gowda, Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers
Debasree Chaudhuri, Minister of State for Woman and Child Development
Danve Raosaheb, Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution
Sanjay Dhotre, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology
Thawar Chand Gehlot, Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment
Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare
Babul Supriyo, Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change
Pratap Sarangi, Minister of State for Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
Rattan Lal Kataria, Minister of State for Jal Shakti

Several positions in the Cabinet were vacant due to the exit of Shiv Sena and Shiromani Akali Dal from the NDA, and the demise of Ramvilas Paswan of Jan Lokshakti Party. The Government, concerned about the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly election and its perception after the Coronavirus second wave, hopes to use this as an image makeover. This reorganization will also aid in reducing the burden on some ministers. Some were handling multiple key portfolios due to the deaths and resignations of their predecessors.

A point to note is that the ministers primarily responsible for the Pandemic response, Dr. Harsh Vardhan and his deputy Ashwini Kumar Choubey along with Santosh Gangwar responsible for managing the migrant crisis have resigned. A surprise came in form of Ravi Shankar Prasad & Prakash Javadekar, both of them held 3 important portfolios each. The former made headlines for his feud with Twitter.

Many have touted this as a progressive move with a relatively young and well-educated cabinet. While the exercise has improved the representation amongst Scheduled Castes and OBC’s, many point out the lack of women representation overall.

The new Union cabinet will have seven PHDs, three MBAs, thirteen lawyers, six doctors, five engineers, seven civil servants and 68 ministers with graduate degrees — showcasing the level of emphasis that has been placed on the educational qualifications of the new team Modi. This will be in addition to a anticipated 12 minsters from the Dalit community and about 27 from OBC Communities. The complete list is attached below