NEW DELHI: Three new Cabinet ministers, all three elevated from minister of state rank, and three new ministers of state were Wednesday inducted in the 19-month-old United Progressive Alliance (UPA) II government as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh began an exercise to shore up the image of his ministry buffeted by corruption scandals and charges of non-performance.
President Pratibha Patil administered the oaths of office and secrecy to the new ministers at the Ashoka Hall in Rastrapati Bhavan. Salman Khursheed, Praful Patel and Shriprakash Jaiswal have been promoted as Cabinet ministers.
Ashwani Kumar, KC Venugopal and Beni Prasad Berma are the new ministers of state sworn in.
No minister has been dropped from the Cabinet.
In the large-scale reshuffle, Khursheed gets water resources with additional charge of minority affairs. Patel gets charge of heavy industries and public enterprises and Jaiswal retains his portfolio but got promoted because of his good work.
Vayalar Ravi, the overseas Indian affairs minister, gets additional charge of aviation, a possibly temporary responsibility, as another round of ministerial changes are expected after the presentation of the fiscal budget next month.
The following is the reshuffled council of ministers of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, which has three ministers elevated to Cabinet rank:
Cabinet ministers:
1. Praful Patel : Heavy industries and public enterprises
2. Sriprakash Jaiswal : Coal
3. Salman Khursheed : Water resources and additional charge of minority affairs
Minister of state (independent charge):
1. Ajay Maken : Youth affairs and sports
2. Beni Prasad Verma : Steel
3. K.V. Thomas: Consumer affairs, food and public distribution
Ministers of state:
1. Ashwani Kumar : Planning and parliamentary affairs, science and technology, and earth sciences
2. K.C. Venugopal : Power
This news is taken from- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Cabinet-reshuffle-3-new-ministers-sworn-in/articleshow/7319569.cms
