E-Paper
Nirmala Sitharaman hosts women ministers at high tea at her residence
Smriti Irani, Meenakshi Lekhi, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Anupriya Patel, Renuka Singh, Annapurna Devi, Pratima Bhowmul, Bharati Pawar, Shobha Karandlaje, Darshana Jardosh were present at the informal gathering hosted by Nirmala Sitharaman.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday hosted the women ministers of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's reshuffled council of ministers at her residence. Smriti Irani, Meenakshi Lekhi, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Anupriya Patel, Renuka Singh, Annapurna Devi, Pratima Bhowmik, Bharati Pawar, Shobha Karandlaje, Darshana Jardosh were present at the informal meeting. Following the reshuffle, PM Modi's Council of ministers now includes 11 women -- nine among them are ministers of state. In the recent reshuffle, seven BJP MPs have been inducted into the council.
On July 7, the council of ministers was reshuffled and as seven MPs took their oath as ministers, Sitharaman and Smriti Irani took a photo with the seven newly inducted ministers. As two ministers of state Renuka Singh and Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti were not present at the oath-taking, this high-tea meeting gives all 11 women ministers of PM Modi's council to come together.
One of the key points of the reshuffled Cabinet was increasing the women representation. In 2019's Council of Ministers had six women faces -- 3 Cabinet ministers and 3 ministers of state. From six, the number has now been raised to 11, though after Harsimrat Kaur Badal's resignation, the number of Cabinet ministers has gone down to two.
Among the women ministers too, the representation of a range of states and communities has been kept in mind as the 11 women ministers are from nine states and represent nine communities.
