Janata Dal-United (JDU) Rajya Sabha MP Ram Chandra Prasad Singh on Thursday assumed office as the new Minister of Steel in the Union Cabinet.
After taking charge, the new Minister said the Ministry of Steel is already doing great.
"Ministry hum sambhale nahi hain, ministry to sambhli hui hai. (Have not taken over yet, Ministry is already in good shape). Today is my first day here, it is a joyous moment for me. I work with an open mind. I do not know anything yet, I will examine everything, understand them and then speak on it," said Singh.
Singh has replaced Dharmendra Pradhan, who will now look after the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
After the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP's ally JDU refused to join Union Cabinet over the demand for proportional representation. However, the party demanded representation in the NDA government in the reshuffle.
Hailing from Bihar's Nalanda district, 63-year-old RCP Singh is currently serving his second term as Rajya Sabha MP, after taking premature retirement from the civil services.
The retired IAS officer Singh served over 25 years across various capacities and domains. He had served as principal secretary to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in one of his earlier terms before taking voluntary retirement in 2010 and getting a nomination from JD-U ticket to Rajya Sabha in the same year.
Some other key figures inducted into Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet include Jyotiraditya Scindia, Bhupender Yadav, Sarbananda Sonowal, Anurag Thakur and Pashupati Kumar Paras.
In Wednesday's reshuffle and expansion of PM Modi's Council of Ministers, a total of 43 political leaders were sworn in as Union ministers, and some have been elevated as cabinet ministers.
( With inputs from ANI )
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