Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi reshuffled his cabinet on Wednesday with the induction of fresh faces and the departure of 12 prominent ones, resulting in 36 new ministers joining Modi’s council of ministers and seven others being promoted.
I congratulate all the colleagues who have taken oath today and wish them the very best for their ministerial tenure. We will continue working to fulfil aspirations of the people and build a strong and prosperous India. #Govt4Growth pic.twitter.com/AVz9vL77bO
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 7, 2021
Some prominent inductions into the cabinet include Jyotiraditya Scindia as the Civil Aviation Minister and Dharmendra Pradhan as the Education Minister. Moreover, the cabinet also saw enhanced regional representation with Kiren Rijiju as the first cabinet minister from Arunachal Pradesh, taking up the position of Law and Justice Minister.
Several members of minority communities also got inducted into the cabinet. Following the new appointments, the Indian cabinet now has 12 Scheduled Caste Ministers, 27 others from Other Backward Classes, and eight from Scheduled Tribes. Meanwhile, the inductions also resulted in a record-high representation of women in the cabinet, bringing the total number of women ministers to 11.
Consequently, on Thursday, the PM convened the first meeting with the new council of ministers, urging them to focus on using technology in policymaking. Speaking to CNN-News 18, official sources said the ministers were asked to ensure “last-mile delivery” and expedited pending projects’ completion. The PM also stressed that action must be taken to prepare for and prevent a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, raising concerns about the several images and videos on social media showing large-scale gatherings and crowds in the country. He added that “there should be no space for carelessness or complacency during such a health crisis.”
Meanwhile, the departure of 12 ministers, including Ravi Shankar Prasad, former Minister of Communications and Information Technology and Dr. Harsh Vardhan, former Union Health Minister, comes amid criticism of the government’s handling of its spat with Twitter and the devastating second wave of COVID-19.
NDTV reported that Prasad’s departure from the cabinet is a direct result of his inability to reconcile the ongoing tiff with social media giants, specifically Twitter. After the tech giant lost legal protection in India for failing to abide by the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, Indian authorities filed their first criminal complaint against Twitter in June. During the controversy, Prasad said that the criminal complaint was filed after “multiple opportunities” were awarded to Twitter to comply with the new IT Rules. In addition, Prasad’s removal from the cabinet also resulted from his failure to successfully promote Modi’s Bharatnet programme, which aimed to provide internet to every Indian village; he missed the June 2021 deadline set by the Indian premier.
Prasad was replaced by Ashwini Vaishnaw, who has previously held senior positions in several multinational companies, including General Electric. Vaishnaw has been given the responsibility to resolve the conflict with Twitter and expedite the Bharatnet programme by utilising his expertise in Public-Private Partnerships.
On the other hand, Harsh Vardhan’s departure came amid widespread discontent with Indian authorities’ handling of the second wave of the COVID-19, the fear of the impending third wave, and the slow roll-out of the Indian vaccination drive. He was replaced by Mansukh Mandaviya, who previously worked with Modi in Gujarat as the shipping minister. He was also in charge of supervising oxygen imports during the second wave, which saw a severe shortage of oxygen supplies.
In addition, the inductions are seen as a manoeuvre to prepare for upcoming state elections in 2022 and 2023. For instance, Kaushal Kishore from Uttar Pradesh was brought into the cabinet a year before the state holds assembly elections and gave the newly inducted minister’s region, Awadh, regional representation in the central cabinet. Similarly, appointments were also made to ensure regional representation of other states, including Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur, and Gujarat.
While the appointments of certain ministers were criticised, the reshuffling has overall been welcomed as it indicates the Modi-led government’s acceptance of the mistakes committed in governance, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.