Anurag Thakur, Ashwini Vaishnaw take charge after major Union Cabinet reshuffle

Anurag Thakur on Thursday took charge as the Minister of Information and Broadcasting. Even, Bureaucrat-entrepreneur-turned-politician Ashwini Vaishnaw took charge as the country's new railway minister.

Speaking to reporters after assuming charge, Anurag Thakur said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has done a great job in reaching out to people in the last seven years through this ministry, and that he would like to take the legacy forward. He said he would like to reach out to people through the ministry.

"PM Modi has done terrific work in the last seven years to take India forward. The work done by people before me in Information and Broadcasting Ministry and responsibility given to me by the Prime Minister, I will try to meet those expectations", he said. Thakur was on Wednesday sworn in as a Cabinet minister and has been given the charge of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry as well as the portfolio of the Youth Affairs and Sports ministry.

The 46-year-old MP from Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh was among the 15 new Cabinet ministers who took oath in the first major rejig and expansion of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government after it returned to power for a second term in May 2019.

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Meanwhile, a former IAS officer of the 1994-batch, Vaishnaw has handled important responsibilities for over 15 years and was particularly known for his contribution to the public-private partnership (PPP) framework in infrastructure, something that will help him in the rail sector.

He has also held leadership roles across major global companies such as General Electric and Siemens. Vaishnaw has done his MBA from the Wharton School, Pennsylvania University, and M.Tech from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur.

He will also hold two other important portfolios of Communications and Electronics and Information Technology. "Excellent work has been done in the Railways over the past 67 years. I am here to take the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi forward," Vaishnaw said while he took the charge.

(With inputs from Agencies)