Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet was reshuffled on Wednesday (July 7). The move that stayed in the new cycles for quite some time ended with 43 ministers, both new and old, taking oaths at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, which was presided over by India's President, Ram NathKovind. This time, 36 new ministers have been appointed, 7 old ministers have been promoted, and 12 ministers have resigned.
Surprisingly, the Union Cabinet has increased the number of women in its ranks by inducting seven new faces to supplement the existing shortlist. The seven women who took the oath were sworn in as ministers in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government with a focus on diversity in terms of caste, religion, and gender.
With the new additions, the Union Cabinet now has a total of 11 women ministers, reversing the Modi cabinet's view of women's underrepresentation in 2019. So far, there have only been three women as cabinet ministers and three women as state ministers.
With the resignation of Harsimrat Kaur Badal, the number of cabinet ministers have been reduced to two: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Women and Child Development Minister SmritiIrani. Meanwhile, Debasree Chaudhury, Minister of State, was removed from the cabinet during the reshuffle.
Among the seven women who took oath as ministers of state were Karandlaje, Darshana Vikram Jardosh, Lekhi, Annapurna Devi, Pratima Bhoumik, Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar, and Apna Dal's Anupriya Singh Patel. Three of them are first-time MPs, while Patel is returning to the council of ministers after previously serving as the Union Minister of State for Health under Prime Minister Modi.
Let us get better acquainted with the women who have joined the Modi government’s cabinet.
Anupriya Singh Patel is the LokSabha Member of Parliament for Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh, where she is serving her second term. She was the Union Minister of State for Health under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The 40-year-old MP was previously an MLA in Uttar Pradesh.
She previously worked as a Professor at Amity University and holds an MBA from ChhatrapatiShahujiMaharaj University in Kanpur.
SushriShobhaKarandlaje, 54, is the LokSabha MP for UdupiChikmagalur in Karnataka, where she is serving her second term. She has also served as an MLA and MLC in Karnataka. She has served as a Cabinet Minister in the Karnataka government, holding a variety of portfolios including Food and Civil Supplies, Power, Rural Development, and the Panchayati Raj System.
Karandlaje has been in the public eye for three decades, ever since she was a student. She holds a Master of Arts in Sociology from Mangalore University.
Darshana Vikram Jardosh, 60, is a LokSabha MP for Surat in Gujarat, where she is serving her third term. She has been appointed as a Minister of State in the Ministries of Textiles and Railways. She has also served as a Surat Municipal Corporation Corporator and as a member of the Gujarat Social Welfare Board. Darshana Vikram Jardosh has been a public servant for four decades.
She is the Director of the art and cultural organisation 'Sanskruti.' She graduated from K P Commerce College in Surat with a BCom degree.
Meenakshi Lekhi, 54, is a LokSabha MP representing New Delhi in her second term. Meenakshi, a BJP leader, is a Supreme Court lawyer and a social worker. She has been appointed as Minister of State (MoS) in both the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Ministry of Culture. She has also served on the New Delhi Municipal Corporation's Board of Directors (NDMC).
Smt. Annapurna Devi, 51, is a LokSabha MP for Kodarma in Jharkhand, where she is serving her first term. Annapurna Devi has been named Minister of State in the Ministry of Education. She has also served as a member of the Jharkhand and Bihar legislatures four times. She has served as a Cabinet Minister in the Jharkhand government, holding portfolios such as Irrigation, Women and Child Welfare, and Registration.
Annapurna Devi has also served as Minister of State for Mines and Geology in the Government of Bihar, at the young age of 30. She holds a master's degree in history from Ranchi University.
Sushri Pratima Bhoumik is a Tripura West LokSabha MP serving her first term in office. The 52-year-old leader comes from a farming background. She has a Master's degree in Bio-Science from Tripura University's Women's College.
Pratima Bhowmik, popularly known as 'Pratima di,' 52 years old, made history by becoming the first Tripura politician to be sworn in as a central minister.
PratimaBhoumik has been appointed Minister of State in charge of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoS).
Smt. Bharati Pravin Pawar is the LokSabha Member of Parliament for Dindori in Maharashtra, currently serving her first term. She was a member of the Nashik ZilaParishad and worked to eliminate malnutrition and provide safe drinking water. She has been assigned to the Ministry of State within the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of the Central Government. She was a Medical Practitioner before entering public life.
