PM introduces new ministers to Parliament

New members of the Union Council of Ministers, including Tribal Affairs Minister V Kishore Chandra Deo, were introduced to both Houses of Parliament by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday.

Dr Singh also introduced Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi and Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh, who were recently inducted as Cabinet ministers, to members of both Houses.

Jayanthi Natarajan and Paban Singh Ghatowar were appointed as ministers of state with independent charge and allocated the portfolios of Environment and Forests, and Development of North East Region respectively.

Ghatowar is also the minister of state for Parliamentary Affairs.

The prime minister expanded and reshuffled his Council of Ministers on July 12, inducting eight new faces and dropping seven.

Ministers of State Sudip Bandopadhyay (Health), Charan Das Mahant (Agriculture and Food Processing), Jitender Singh (Home), Milind Deora (Communications) and Rajiv Shukla (Parliamentary Affairs) were also introduced in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.