Prime Minister Narendra Modi expanded his Union Cabinet on July 7, 2021 bringing in 36 new faces and promoting seven existing ministers. As many as 12 ministers were dropped from the new Cabinet, including high-profile ones like Ravi Shankar Prasad and Harsh Vardhan. This is the first Cabinet reshuffle since PM Modi assumed charge for a second term in May 2019.
With this expansion of the Council of Ministers, the Narendra Modi government has a record representation of OBC, SC and ST communities. 27 OBC Ministers including 5 with Cabinet rank, 12 ministers from scheduled caste communities and eight from scheduled tribes are now in the Union Council of Ministers. Women representation has also increased to 11 with the induction of new faces. Five leaders of the minority community are now ministers in the Modi government.
The average age of the new Council of Ministers has reduced to 58 from 61 previously, following the reshuffle. Nisith Pramanik, 35, Lok Sabha MP from Cooch Behar, West Bengal, is the youngest Minister to be sworn in, while the oldest member in the Council is 72yearold Som Parkash. There are 77 members in the Council of Ministers now.
