Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday met the new leaders who have been inducted into the Union Cabinet after a major reshuffle of the Council of Ministers since the NDA government returned to power in May 2019.
The new Cabinet made sweeping reforms to boost the slowing economy at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic is still a threat, along with an impending stalemate between the Centre and the farming community.
Among the new infusions, the central government has announced a big bonanza for the agriculture sector, with Rs 1 lakh crore will be given to farmers via Agricultural Produce & Livestock Market Committees, and an emergency Rs 15,000 crore Covid-19 fund for states to boost the health infrastructure.
“It was earlier said APMCs would be strengthened. Efforts will be made to provide more resources to the APMCs. Rs 1 lakh crores allocated under Atmanirbhar Bharat to Farmers Infrastructure Fund can be used by APMCs. To increase coconut farming, we are amending the Coconut Board Act. The Coconut Board president will be a non-official person. He will be from the farming community, and who knows and understands the work of field,” Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said.
He further said that the central government has continued to respect and uphold the rights of farmers. Furthermore, the Centre has “also told the agitating farmers that we are willing to discuss any changes they want in the new laws, as long as they do not demand the withdrawal of the reforms”.
“APMCs will not be done away with. After the implementation of farm laws, APMCs will receive crores of rupees from the Centre’s Infrastructure fund, which will strengthen them and will be useful for more farmers,” Tomar said in the first briefing of the new Cabinet.
The mega expansion on Wednesday saw a bigger representation from states that will go to polls next year, including Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Gujarat, and is also aimed at infusing young talent into the government.
The representation of people from Other Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and youth has gone up, the average age of the Cabinet has come down to 58. The major shake-up was done just days ahead of the Monsoon Session of the Parliament.
As many as 43 ministers, including seven who have been elevated into the Cabinet, took their oaths at the Rashtrapati Bhavan yesterday, and subsequently took charge of their respective offices today.
The 12 ministers who were dropped from the earlier Cabinet include Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, IT and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, and Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar.
