Union ministers Smriti Irani, RS Prasad, Harsh Vardhan take charge of respective ministries

Irani took charge as the Union Women and Child Development Minister, Harsh Vardhan took charge as the Union Health Minister and RS Prasad assumed charge at Ministry of Law and Justice and of Ministry of Electronics and IT.

Smriti Irani, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Harsh Vardhan took charge of their respective ministries on Monday/ Images: PTI, Twitter

New Delhi: Newly-appointed Union ministers Smriti Irani, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Harsh Vardhan took charge of their respective ministries on Monday, three days after they took oath of office and secrecy, on May 30. Irani took charge as the Union Women and Child Development Minister, Harsh Vardhan took charge as the Union Health Minister and RS Prasad assumed charge at Ministry of Law and Justice and of Ministry of Electronics and IT. Law ministry will not function as post office: RS Prasad Prasad's stature in the Modi 2.0 government has got bigger and he has regained the telecom ministry, adding it to his heavyweight portfolio of IT as well as Law and Justice. After assuming office as Law Minister, Prasad told reporters, that the Ministry will “act as a stakeholder” in the judicial system and will “not function as a post-office”.  He said 1500 laws that had become obsolete were scrapped by the ministry previously, and it will look for more such laws which can be scrapped.  When asked about Article 35 A, Prasad said that the matter pertains to the home ministry, the law ministry can only show a way in this matter. Irani assumes charge at Ministry of Women and Child Development Irani was welcomed by senior officials of the ministry and Minister of State in the WCD Ministry Debashree Chaudhuri. Soon after assuming charge, Irani held a meeting with all senior officials of the ministry. The Amethi MP has retained the charge of textiles ministry, a portfolio she held during the first term of the Narendra Modi government. She had met her predecessor Maneka Gandhi on Saturday to discuss important issues in the ministry and the way forward in tackling them. Strengthening Ayushman Bharat a priority: Harsh Vardhan Doctor-turned-politician Harsh took charge as the Union Health Minister, almost five years after he was divested of the charge. Vardhan, who reached his office Nirman Bhawan on a cycle, said his priority will be to strengthen the implementation of the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (PM-JAY). He said he will ensure that people in every nook and corner of the country are able to avail the benefits of the scheme. Earlier, he was appointed as the Union Health minister in 2014 and was later given the charge of the Ministries of Earth Sciences and Science and Technology. J P Nadda held the portfolio in the outgoing cabinet. Vardhan was given the additional charge of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in May 2017, after the demise of Union minister Anil Madhav Dave. (With inputs from agencies)