Narendra Modi cabinet portfolios announcement highlights: Govt extends ₹6,000 per year assistance to all farmers, says govt after 1st meeting of PM Modi’s Cabinet

8:18 pm IST

Union minister Narendra Tomar rubbishes away claims that allowance for farmers is ‘too less’.

The Union minister urged state governments to send consolidated lists of farmers who are eligible for the allowance.

8:13 pm IST

‘Budget to be presented on July 5, economic survey to be released on July 4th’: Union minister Prakash Javadekar

Union minister announces pension for small and medium enterprises, who do not come under GST and have a turnover of lower than ₹1.5 crore, says Union minister Prakash Javadekar. He says, more than 5 crore farmers will benefit, and unorganised sector workers to shall reap the benefits of this farmer.

7:57 pm IST

Union minister Prakash Javadekar addresses the media after cabinet meet

Union Minister Javadekar announces Centre’s plan for vaccination of livestock and at animal husbandry based small and medium enterprises. He further adds that State Governments have to send a consolidated list and Centre shall take care of release of funds.

7:53 pm IST

Union minister for Agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar addresses the media

Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar confirms pension for farmers above 65 years of age.

7:29 pm IST

Union Ministers leave after first cabinet meeting ends. Cabinet briefing to be held at Shastri Bhawan shortly.

Union ministers Amit Shah, Piyush Goyal and Rajnath Singh leave after cabinet meeting.

Delhi: Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Dharmendra Pradhan and Piyush Goyal leave after #UnionCabinet meeting. pic.twitter.com/2mM2KXHPRo

— ANI (@ANI) May 31, 2019

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman leaves after cabinet meeting

Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman leaves after #UnionCabinet meeting. pic.twitter.com/VTck5MKi2m

— ANI (@ANI) May 31, 2019

7:01 pm IST

Ravi Shankar Prasad, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, and Giriraj Singh greet each other after first cabinet meeting

Union ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, and Giriraj Singh share a light moment after first cabinet meeting. First cabinet briefing to follow soon.

Delhi: Visuals of Union Ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Giriraj Singh after Cabinet meeting. #UnionCabinet pic.twitter.com/KgVydlK8UQ

— ANI (@ANI) May 31, 2019

5:57 pm IST

PM Modi’s cabinet takes its first decision after cabinet meeting

PM’s scholarship scheme goes through major changes. Wards of police personnel who were martyred in terror or Maoist attacks will receive enhanced scholarships.

Our Government’s first decision dedicated to those who protect India!

Major changes approved in PM’s Scholarship Scheme under the National Defence Fund including enhanced scholarships for wards of police personnel martyred in terror or Maoist attacks. https://t.co/Vm90BD77hm pic.twitter.com/iXhFNlBCIc

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 31, 2019

5:31 pm IST

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives for the cabinet meeting

Other ministers have also arrived for the first cabinet meet after PM Narendra Modi’s successful re-election.

Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives for the #UnionCabinet meeting. pic.twitter.com/PGFJ3VS8ge

— ANI (@ANI) May 31, 2019

Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman has also arrived for the first cabinet meet.

Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and MoS PMO Dr Jitendra Singh arrive for the #UnionCabinet meeting. pic.twitter.com/KSnfkLPaV7

— ANI (@ANI) May 31, 2019

4:35 pm IST

Dr. Jitendra Singh takes charge as Minister of State, Prime Minister’s Office

He was previously assigned with the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region from 2014-2019

Delhi: Dr. Jitendra Singh takes charge as the Minister of State, Prime Minister's Office. #UnionCabinet pic.twitter.com/5FDIQ0YaPe

— ANI (@ANI) May 31, 2019

4:03 pm IST

PM Modi gets ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions and department of atomic energy

In the new cabinet, Narendra Modi is the Prime Minister and also in-charge of Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space; and all important policy issues; and all other portfolios not allocated to any minister.

3:35 pm IST

Dharmendra Pradhan takes charge

Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan today took charge of petroleum and natural gas ministry and steel ministry.

3:32 pm IST

Gajendra Singh Shekhawat takes charge as minister for Jal Shakti

Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has taken charge as the minister for Jal Shakti, at Shram Shakti Bhavan, in New Delhi.

3:22 pm IST

Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank takes charge

Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank took charge as Human Resource Development minister. Prahlad Singh Patel, minister of state (Independent Charge) of the ministry of culture, will assume office on Monday.

3:12 pm IST

Nirmala Sitharaman takes charge as finance minister

Nirmala Sitharaman has taken charge as finance minister in PM Modi’s new cabinet.

2:27 pm IST

Mahendra Nath Pandey is minister of skill development and entrepreneurship

Mahendra Nath Pandey has been appointed as the minister of skill development and entrepreneurship in the new cabinet.

Pandey, who served as a Union minister of state (MoS) in the Ministry of Human Resource Development between 2016 and 2017, was given the responsibility of the BJP’s Uttar Pradesh unit in 2017 after the party’s massive win in the assembly elections.

2:21 pm IST

Pralhad Joshi to head three ministries

Pralhad Joshi will take charge as minister of parliamentary affairs; minister of coal; and minister of mines in the new cabinet.

2:14 pm IST

Arvind Sawant gets minister of heavy industries and public enterprise

In PM’s new cabinet, Arvind Ganpat Sawant has been appointed as the minister of heavy industries and public enterprise.

2:00 pm IST

Harsh Vardhan is health minister

Harsh Vardhan has been appointed as the health minister in the new cabinet.

In the recently concluded general elections, Vardhan defeated Congress candidate Jai Prakash Agarwal by a margin of 2,28,145 votes.

In 2014, he had won the Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha seat defeating Congress’ Kapil Sibal, who was then the Union Minister of Law and Justice.

1:55 pm IST

Prakash Javadekar to head two ministries

In the new NDA government, Prakash Javadekar will take charge as minister of environment, forest and climate change; and minister of information and broadcasting.

1:52 pm IST

Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ to head HRD ministry

In PM Modi’s new cabinet Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ will be taking charge of Human Resource Development ministry, while Narendra Singh Tomar will be minister of agriculture and farmers welfare; minister of Rural development; and minister of panchayati raj.

1:48 pm IST

Harsimrat Kaur Badal retains ministry of food processing industries

Harsimrat Kaur Badal has been assigned as the in-charge of ministry of food processing industries.

Wife of Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Badal and daughter-in-law of five-time Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, she retained the Bathinda Lok Sabha seat for a third consecutive term.

1:45 pm IST

Ravi Shankar Prasad to head three ministries

Ravi Shankar Prasad has been appointed as minister of law and justice; minister of communications; and minister of electronics and information technology.

Made a minister in the Modi government when it came to power in 2014, he held various key portfolios including communications, information technology, and law and justice.

1:40 pm IST

Dharmendra Pradhan is minister of petroleum and natural gas; and minister of steel

Dharmendra Pradhan has been appointed as minister of petroleum and natural Gas; and minister of steel in PM Narendra Modi’s new cabinet

Pradhan, who held important portfolios like Petroleum and Natural Gas and Skill Development in the previous NDA government, was the prominent face of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in just concluded Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in Odisha.

1:35 pm IST

Piyush Goyal to head commerce ministry

In PM Modi’s new cabinet, Piyush Goyal will head the Commerce ministry apart from Railways, the communiqué said.

1:32 pm IST

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi retains ministry of minority affairs

As portfolio of PM Modi’s new cabinet has been announced, Rajya Sabha member Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi amd Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has been assigned charge of ministry of minority affairs.

He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1998, and subsequently given the post of Minister of State of Information and Broadcasting in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. He was given additional charge of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs from 2001 to 2003.

From 2003 to 2008, Naqvi served as a member of Haj Committee, and from March 2003 to February 2004, as Chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Functioning of Wakf Boards.

He became Minister of State for Minority Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs on May 26, 2014 in Narendra Modi government. Later in July 2016, he got independent charge of the Ministry of Minority Affairs.

1:20 pm IST

Ramvilas Paswan appointed minister of consumer affairs, food and public distribution

In PM Modi’s new cabinet, Ramvilas Paswan has been given charge of minister of consumer affairs, food and public distribution.

Paswan has been a Union Minister since the mid-90s except for brief spells. He was the Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution in the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from 2014.

1:18 pm IST

Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank gets education ministry

Former Uttarakhand chief minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has been appointed education minister in place of Prakash Javadekar who gets Environment as well as Information and Broadcasting.

1:16 pm IST

Sadananda Gowda appointed minister of chemicals and fertilizers

D.V. Sadananda Gowda has been appointed as Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers. he was the statistics and programme implementation minister in the previous cabinet.

1:11 pm IST

Nitin Gadkari retains road transport ministry

In PM Modi’s new cabinet, Nitin Gadkari has retained the road transport ministry, Smriti Irani who had made a mark in the Lok Sabha elections by defeating Rahul Gandhi in the Congress bastion of Amethi has been given Women and Child Development, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank the education minister and Prakash Javdekar the minister for Information and Broadcasting.

1:03 pm IST

S Jaishankar is new external affairs minister

The portfolios for PM Modi’s cabinet were announced on Friday. S Jaishankar has been announced as the new external affairs minister.

S Jaishankar is widely acknowledged as the surprise entry in PM Modi’s team. He was part of a troika with Modi and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval that shaped foreign policy in the early years of the previous Modi government.

1:01 pm IST

Finance goes to Nirmala Sitharaman

In PM Narendra Modi’s new cabinet, Nirmala Sitharaman has been appointed as the Finance Minister in Prime, according to a Rashtrapati Bhawan communiqué.

12:55 pm IST

Amit Shah gets home ministry, Rajnath Singh defence

Amit Shah, the big entry in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s freshly-minted Cabinet, has been given the Home Ministry, Rajnath Singh has been moved to Defence Ministry.