Modi added 19 new junior ministers, sworn in by President Pranab Mukherjee at a ceremony in the colonial-era president’s palace in New Delhi on 5 July 2016 [Image: PMO, India]Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inducted 19 new ministers into his cabinet on Tuesday as he seeks to revive momentum for reform plans ahead of a crucial state election.
Modi’s cabinet has now swelled to 78, the largest in many years.
Late on Tuesday night, the government announced changes to several ministries, including Finance, Information and Broadcasting and Human Resource Development.
The minister of state for finance, Jayant Sinha, was shifted to aviation while the human resource Minister Smriti Irani has been shunted out. She will now head the textiles ministry.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley no longer has additional charge as information and broadcasting minister. This allows Jaitley to focus solely on boosting the economy.
Jaitley is trying to control an inflation rate and fiscal deficit that are among the highest in Asia.
In 2014, Indian Prime Minister Modi won a majority in India’s lower house of parliament for the first time in 30 years vowing to substantially increase jobs and bring in “achche din” (good days) for all citizens.
Modi has seen some success, particularly with a shift toward market-based energy pricing, auctions for coal mines and telecom licenses.
But he has struggled to end India’s political gridlock or push more controversial reform measure including a land bill and labour reforms.
The upper house of the Indian parliament has blocked a goods-and-services tax that would create a single market in India for the first time.
The Indian government has also backed off on proposals to make it easier to acquire land, simplify labor rules and scrap a retrospective tax on companies.
TBP
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