Dharmendra Pradhan assumes charge as Minister of Skill Development, Entrepreneurship

Dharmendra Pradhan, Rajya Sabha Member representing Madhya Pradesh, took charge as the Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship on Thursday.

Pradhan will also be handling the Ministry of Education, which he takes over from Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank'.

Earlier, Pradhan was the Minister Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel. The petroleum ministry will now be headed by Hardeep Singh Puri.

In April 2018, Pradhan was elected to the Rajya Sabha for the second term.

52-year-old Pradhan is the son of former Minister of State Debendra Pradhan. He was promoted as a Cabinet Minister in September 2017.

As many as 43 leaders took oath on Wednesday in the first Union Cabinet reshuffle and expansion after Prime Minister Modi returned to power for a second term in May 2019.

The swearing-in ceremony, which took place at Rashtrapati Bhavan amid COVID-19 protocols, came days ahead of the monsoon session of parliament.

Some of the key figures inducted into Union cabinet include Jyotiraditya Scindia, Bhupender Yadav, Sarbananda Sonowal and Pashupati Kumar Paras.

Seven women MPs took oath as union ministers in the expanded council of ministers.

They include Anupriya Patel, Shobha Karandlaje, Darshana Vikram Jardosh, Meenakshi Lekhi, Annapurna Devi, Pratima Bhoumik and Bharati Pravin Pawar.

Meanwhile, seven Ministers of State (MoS) have been promoted as Union Cabinet Ministers.

Former MoS G Kishan Reddy, Kiren Rijiju, Anurag Singh Thakur, Hardeep Singh Puri, Raj Kumar Singh, Parshottam Rupala and Mansukh Mandaviya took oath on July 7.

( With inputs from ANI )