Najma Heptulla resigns from Cabinet, Naqvi gets independent charge

New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday accepted the resignations of Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptulla and Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises G.M. Siddeshwara with immediate effect. Under Heptulla, the ministry held the record for being able to spend 98% of the entire Plan Budget in 2015-16 on various schemes and programmes meant for the people of minority community. Meanwhile, as advised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the President has directed that Minister of State Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, shall be assigned the Independent charge of the Ministry of Minority Affairs. Also, Babul Supriyo was relieved of the charge of Minister of State in the Ministry of Urban Development, and Minister of State in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and was assigned the portfolio of Minister of State in the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises. The development comes days after Prime Minister Modi, in a much-awaited Cabinet reshuffle, inducted 19 new faces, who were chosen after an exhaustive vetting process to carry forward the government's vision of 'Gaon, Garib aur Kisan'.