News Analysis India

Tag: Union Cabinet

  • Santosh Gangwar, Ramesh Pokhriyal and Sanjay Dhotre resign ahead of union cabinet reshuffle

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Labour minister Santosh Gangwar has resigned from the Union Cabinet ahead of the scheduled Cabinet reshuffle this evening along with Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, the latter citing health reasons, according to sources.

    Gangwar, who held the position of Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Labour and Employment resigned from his post early this morning along with MoS Education Sanjay Dhotre. Dhotre, who represents Akola constituency of Maharashtra also took charge as MoS for Education, Communications and Electronics and Information Technology, in May 2019.

    When asked whether he has resigned from the post of Labour Minister, Gangwar answered in the affirmative. “Yes I have resigned,” he said. He, however, said he is not aware of what his new role in the government will be.

    #Breaking: @drharshvardhan resigns. India to get new health minister.@NewIndianXpress
    — Sumi Dutta (@SumiSukanya) July 7, 2021

    Pokhriyal, who tested positive for COVID-19 on April 21, was admitted to AIIMS in June again following post Covid complications. The former Uttarakhand chief minister took charge as the HRD Minister in May 2019. His resignation comes ahead of the expansion of the Union Cabinet scheduled this evening.

    Minister of State for Women and Child Development Ministry Debasree Chaudhuri also resigned from the Union Cabinet. Chaudhuri submitted her resignation this morning, one of her close aides said. Chaudhuri was elected to the Lok Sabha from West Bengal’s Raiganj constituency in the 2019 general elections.

    This will be the first reshuffle in the Council of Ministers by Prime Minister Narendra Modi since he assumed charge for a second term in May 2019.The Prime Minister is expected to bring in young faces and give representation to various social groups and regions in the reshuffle.

  • Labour minister Santosh Gangwar resigns from Union Cabinet

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Labour minister Santosh Gangwar has resigned from the Union Cabinet ahead of the scheduled Cabinet reshuffle this evening.

    Gangwar, who held the position of Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Labour and Employment resigned from his post early this morning.

    When asked whether he has resigned from the post of Labour Minister, Gangwar answered in the affirmative. “Yes I have resigned,” he said. He, however, said he is not aware of what his new role in the government will be.

    This will be the first reshuffle in the Council of Ministers by Prime Minister Narendra Modi since he assumed charge for a second term in May 2019.

    The Prime Minister is expected to bring in young faces and give representation to various social groups and regions in the reshuffle.

  • Bihar CM Nitish Kumar doesn’t rule out JDU joining union government, ducks queries on formula

    By PTI
    PATNA: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday did not rule out the possibility of his JDU joining the Narendra Modi government during its likely expansion but insisted it was the party’s national president who will take a call on the number of berths acceptable to it.

    Talking to reporters here, Kumar said expansion of the Union council of ministers was a prerogative of the prime minister and that he “did not have much information” about what was being offered to his party.

    “I relinquished the party’s national president’s post a few months ago. Current president RCP Singh has been authorised to take a call in the matter. Only he can share the details,” the chief minister, the party’s de facto leader, said with a smile playing on his lips.

    When pointed out that he had disapproved of the BJP’s offer of “token representation” for allies in the government after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Kumar quipped, “I was then the national president of the party, a post which I no longer hold.”

    Responding to a query as to whether his party was likely to stick to its previous stand of not joining the Union council of ministers, the JDU leader said, “I do not think at any point of time it has been said that our party will never join the Union Cabinet.”

    He deflected questions about speculation in the media that the JD(U), which has become the largest ally of the BJP after Shiv Sena’s exit from NDA, was bargaining for three to four berths. “These are things you should be asking RCP Singh,” he said.

    Incidentally, Singh, a former IAS officer, has risen to the top postion in the party within a decade of taking the political plunge, and is seen as a frontrunner for a Cabinet berth. The chief minister also said he was all set to revive his public interaction programme ‘Janata Ke Darbar Mein Mukhyamantri’ from next week.

    “Of course, there will be some constraints in view of the corona pandemic. Citizens who appear on any given day with their grievances will be extended all facilities, including transport,” Kumar said.

  • Jyotiraditya Scindia arrives in Delhi amid speculations of him getting cabinet berth

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI/ INDORE: Amid speculations of him getting a ministerial berth at the Centre, BJP MP Jyotiraditya Scindia reached Delhi on Tuesday evening. “I was on a visit to Ujjain. After completing my visit here, I am going to Delhi,” Scindia told reporters here at the Indore airport today.

    The much-anticipated Union Cabinet reshuffle is expected to take place on July 8, said sources on Tuesday.

    The buzz that was going on for quite some time intensified after a series of meetings between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP National President JP Nadda in the national capital.

    In March 2020, Scindia joined the Bharatiya Janata Party, after ending his 18-years-old association with the Congress party. Scindia’s resignation from the party triggered the resignation of 22 MLAs who are his loyalists and later led to the collapse of the Kamal Nath-led Congress government in Madhya Pradesh.

    Articulate and charismatic, Scindia was Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology in the UPA-I government. He was the Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry in the UPA-II government between 2009 and 2012. Scindia was Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Power between 2012 and 2014.

    He was a strong critic of the Narendra Modi government in its first term and articulated his concerns in the Lok Sabha.

    Belonging to a political family, Scindia was first elected to Lok Sabha from Guna in 2002 after his father Madhavrao Scindia died in an aeroplane crash. Madhavrao Scindia was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1971 at the age of 26 and went on to win nine consecutive elections from the Gwalior and Guna constituencies.

    Jyotirdaditya Scindia suffered a shock defeat from Guna parliamentary seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

  • PM Narendra Modi holds meeting with Amit Shah, BL Santhosh amid buzz of Cabinet expansion

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has held marathon meetings with Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh in what is being seen as the final touches being given to the details of a likely expansion of the Union Cabinet.

    Sources said Shah and Santhosh confabulated with Modi at his residence for several hours on Sunday amid a “strong possibility” that the Cabinet reshuffle may happen very soon.

    Some sources said the swearing-in may happen as early as Wednesday.

    However, there was no official word on it.

    If the prime minister goes ahead with the exercise, he will be expanding his Council of Ministers for the first time since assuming the charge in May 2019 for his second innings.

    BJP leaders Sarbananda Sonowal, the former Assam chief minister who made way for Himanta Biswa Sarma in the state, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sushil Modi are seen as strong ministerial probables amid indications that some allies of the saffron party may also get berths.

    The states which will go to the assembly polls early next year, including the all-important Uttar Pradesh, may figure high.

    West Bengal may also see its representation in the Union Council of Ministers go up, the sources said.

    It is believed that the BJP’s allies like JD(U) and Apna Dal can also get representation.

    Presently, Republican Party leader Ramdas Athawale, a junior minister, is the only ally in the government after parties like the Shiv Sena and the Shiromani Akali Dal severed ties with the BJP.

    Lok Janshakti Party founder Ram Vilas Paswan, a Cabinet minister, had died last year and all eyes are on whether his brother Pashupati Kumar Paras will be part of the expansion.

    Paras is engaged in a bitter battle with Paswan’s son Chirag Paswan for the control of the party and has been recognised as the LJP leader in Lok Sabha after five of its six MPs lent their support to him.

    The current strength of the Council of Ministers is 53, besides Modi, and its maximum number can be 81.

    For the last few weeks, Modi has been meeting Union ministers in groups with BJP president J P Nadda also being present in the exercise to review their works and gather feedback.

    The BJP brass has also held organisational meetings in different states.

  • Cabinet approves Rs 6.29-lakh crore COVID-19 relief package announced by Finance Minister

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the Rs 6.29-lakh crore relief package announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to support the pandemic-hit economy. This was informed by Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar after the Cabinet meeting.

    As part of the package to support the COVID-19 pandemic-hit economy, Sitharaman had on Monday announced Rs 1.5 lakh crore of additional credit for small and medium businesses, more funds for the healthcare sector, loans to tourism agencies and guides, and waiver of visa fee for foreign tourists.

    Together with previously announced Rs 93,869-crore spending on providing free foodgrains to the poor till November and additional Rs 14,775 crore fertiliser subsidy, the stimulus package, which is mostly made up of government guarantee to banks and microfinance institutions for loans they extend to COVID-19-hit sectors, totalled up to Rs 6.29 lakh crore.

    The finance minister provided Rs 23,220 crore of additional funding to set up children and paediatric care at hospitals to prepare healthcare infrastructure to deal with any emergency arising due to COVID-19 wave hitting children.

    Further, to incentivise job creation, the government committed to paying the employer and employee’s share to provident fund (PF) for all new recruitments done till March 2022. Previously, the government paid Rs 902 crore for 21.42 lakh beneficiaries of 79,577 establishments.

    With the tourism sector being hit hard by the pandemic, the minister had announced a financial support to over 11,000 registered tourists, guides, travel and tourism stakeholders, in addition to free one-month tourist visa to first five lakh tourists.

    Other announcements included an additional Rs 19,041 crore to provide broadband internet cover to all village panchayats, an extension of tenure of a production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for large-scale electronics manufacturing by a year and Rs 88,000 crore of insurance cover for goods exporters.

    The central government has announced the support measures as states start lifting restrictions after new coronavirus infections showed a decline.

    Two annoucements made by Sitharaman regarding the additional subsidy of Rs 14,775 crore for DAP & P&K fertilizers, and extension of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) – free food grains from May to November 2021, were previously approved by the Cabinet.

  • Nitish confidants to find place in Union Cabinet? 

    Express News Service
    PATNA: The ruling Janata Dal-United in Bihar is confident that the proposed Union Cabinet expansion will accommodate  leaders from the National Democratic Alliance partner, a senior party leader said.The Nitish Kumar-led party has 16 members in the Lok Sabha. “The JD-U is the part of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) both in Centre and the State. Thus, it is natural for the JD-U to be in the Union Cabinet. We are ready for it,” JD-U national president RCP Singh said on Monday.  

    Singh added that it is up to Nitish Kumar to decide as to who will get the berth  from the JD-U quota. “For this, there is no such so-called formula to join the Union Cabinet,” he stated categorically.The bureaucrat-turned politician asserted  that the JD-U is an ally of the NDA and not a trade organisation. “Naturally, what an ally in government deserves to get will naturally come. There is an alliance for development and it will complete its five year-term in Bihar also.”   

    Meanwhile, Nitish will leave for Delhi on Tuesday amid speculations that he may meet with senior BJP leaders and that a formal discussion may take over the next Cabinet expansion. At the time of government of first cabinet of NDA government, the JD-U had refused to be in the cabinet saying that the party deserved a ‘proportional participation in the cabinet. At that time of cabinet formation, JDU was reportedly offered one berth in the cabinet against the demand for three.

    Cut back to 2021,  after the last Bihar elections in which the JD-U slipped to third position, its bargaining power  has been  somewhat contained.On being asked about the number of berths from JD-U quota, RCP Singh said it would not be right to say anything about the number of seats but it is sure that JD-U will be in the Union Cabinet.

    Two names doing roundsIf sources are to be believed, one-two ministers in the new Modi ministry after reshuffle will be from the Janata Dal-United. The names doing the rounds are RCP Singh and Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh — both are considered close to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

  • Union Cabinet expansion: Chirag Paswan’s loss could be gain for JDU 

    Express News Service
    PATNA: Bihar’s political circle is abuzz as the ruling JD-U is likely to get two ministerial berths in the NDA union cabinet.

    National president of the Janata Dal (United) RCP Singh had said on Saturday that his party, being a constituent of the NDA, deserves to get a berth if the Centre decides to expand the Union cabinet. 

    “Whenever there is an expansion, JD-U must get a share in the cabinet,” Singh, who is considered to be next to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in the party, said.

    An internal source from the NDA said that the cabinet expansion is likely to be held and the ruling BJP wants to accommodate some allies in the cabinet.

    It is believed that JD-U will be given two berths in view of the forthcoming election in UP, where Kurmi votes are crucial in the eastern parts.

    NDA leaders in Bihar speculate two ministries – Consumer Affair, Food and Public Distribution and the Commerce and Industry – which are now managed by Railway minister Piyush Goyal, can go to Nitish’s party.

    Munger MP Rajiv Ranjan alias Lallan Singh and RCP Singh are likely to get the ministerial responsibilities.

    It was following the death of LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan that the charge of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution went to Piyush Goyal.

    “If Chirag Paswan is not accommodated following the protest of Bihar’s ruling ally JD-U in the cabinet, it is likely that both these berths may go to JD-U”, a reliable source from NDA said.

  • Cabinet approves allocation of 5MHz spectrum for railways to improve communication and signalling

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved allocation of 5 MHz spectrum in the 700 MHz band to Indian Railways for improving its communication and signalling systems, Union minister Prakash Javadekar said.

    He said it will help improve safety of passengers on the transport network.

    The project with an estimated cost of Rs 25,000 crore will be completed in the next five years.

    The railways currently relies on optical fibre for its communication network but with the allocation of fresh spectrum, it will be able to use high-speed radio on a real-time basis.

    It will help in augmenting both communication and signalling networks of the railways, the minister said.

    “Cabinet approves allotment of 5 MHz spectrum in 700 MHz band to Indian Railways for public safety and security services at stations and in trains; estimated investment is over Rs 25,000 Crore; Project to be completed in next five years,” a government spokesperson tweeted.

  • More fiscal powers for command & deputy chiefs

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved enhanced delegation of financial powers under capital procurement to deputy chiefs and command chiefs of the armed forces. This will make upgrades, modernisation and refit quicker in the armed forces.

    This is the first time that financial powers have been devolved below the vice chief level for specified items of capital nature to meet emerging security challenges, said the Ministry of Defence.Orders up to Rs 200 crore have been delegated to Deputy Chief of Army Staff (CD & S)/ MGS (Master General Sustenance), COM (Chief of Material), Air Officer Maintenance, Deputy Chief Integrated Defence Staff and Additional Director General Indian Coast Guard.

    Financial powers up to Rs  100 crore have been delegated to General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at Services Command and regional commanders, Coast Guard.

    There are a total of seven commands each in Army and Air Force and three commands in the Navy. The Coast Guard has two regional commands. The defence ministry had enhanced the financial powers of the three vice chiefs from Rs 100 crore to Rs 500 crore in 2018.

    Both serving and retired officers called it a good step. “Commands will not be required to reach the headquarters. The directorates will be able to process the cases up to the mentioned limits. Earlier, these needed approvals once the cost crossed a certain limit, leading to delays,” said an Army officer.