With 7 more, Modi Govt's women ministers' strength goes to 11 in rejig

New Delhi: With the new entrants, the Narendra Modi government has a total of 11 women ministers, changing the perspective the Modi cabinet had in 2019 about the meagre representation of women, as per an Indian Express report.

Today, the seven women who took oath have been sworn in as ministers of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government, keeping in mind the diversity in terms of representation of caste, religion, and gender.

The strength has moved from six in the previous term to 11 – the highest number of women ministers in the Union government since 2004. Meanwhile, both terms of the Manmohan Singh-led governments had 10 women ministers each.

Nirmala Sitharaman, Smriti Irani (both Cabinet ministers), Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti and Renuka Singh Saruta are already part of the Union council of ministers.

As per sources, the seven women MPs are likely to get ministers of state with the number of cabinet ministers remaining two. Niranjan Jyoti, Renuka Singh, and Debasree Chaudhury were the ministers of state. Among them, Debasree Chaudhury has been dropped in this reshuffle.

The 7 new women MPs of PM Modi's Council of Ministers are as follows:

•Karandlaje, 54, is a Lok Sabha member from Udupi Chikmagalur in Karnataka. She has previously served as a cabinet minister in the Karnataka government, holding a range of portfolios like Food and Civil Supplies, Power, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj System.

•Jardosh, 60, is a Lok Sabha member from Surat in Gujarat. She is serving her third term as an MP.

•Lekhi, 54, is a Lok Sabha member from New Delhi and is serving her second term as an MP. She is a Supreme Court lawyer and social worker.

•Devi, 51, is a first-time Lok Sabha MP from Kodarma in Jharkhand. She has also been a four-time MLA from Jharkhand and Bihar and has served as a cabinet minister in the Jharkhand government.

•Bhoumik, 52, is a first-time Lok Sabha MP for Tripura West in Tripura. She comes from a humble background, and practices farming.

•Pawar, 42, is also a first-time Lok Sabha member for Dindori in Maharashtra. She served as a member of Nashik Zila Parishad and worked for eradicating malnutrition and providing clean drinking water.

•Patel, 40, is a two-time Lok Sabha member from Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh.

Following the announcement of the ministry reshuffle, Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani said on Twitter: "Youngest in the history of India having significant representation of women ministers…"

She also noted that the council of Ministers reflects the Prime Minister's commitment towards women-led development & fulfilling aspirations of a New AatmaNirbhar Bharat.