Mansukh Mandaviya appointed as the new Health Minister of India
Mansukh Mandaviya was on Wednesday appointed as the new Health Minister of India in place of Dr. Harsh Vardhan. Mandaviya’s portfolio assumes utmost importance as the country is in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
A doctor himself, Harsh Vardhan was in charge of the Ministry of Health as well as the Ministry of Science and Technology as the Covid pandemic broke out and then India worked to develop vaccines. However, his various comments in the midst of the crisis were described by critics as insensitive and ignorant of the ground realities, even as he vehemently defended the government’s handling of the situation.
In a major change, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday brought in Sarbananda Sonowal, Narayan Rane and Jyotiraditya Scindia in the cabinet, while removing 12 ministers including Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, IT and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar.
A BJP leader from the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, Mandaviya has been an important young face in the Narendra Modi government at the Center since 2016. He was first inducted into the Union Cabinet as the Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, Shipping and Chemicals and Fertilizers. 5 July 2016.
On May 30, 2019, he was again sworn in as the Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers with independent charge of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
Profile
Born in a farming family on July 1, 1972 in Hanol village of Bhavnagar district, Mandaviya was first elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2012 and re-elected in 2018.
Prior to this, he served as the Chairman of Gujarat Agro Industries Corporation Limited.
He began his political journey as a member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the RSS, before joining the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of the BJP.
Mandaviya became the youngest MLA in Gujarat in 2002 when he was elected from Palitana constituency.
A post graduate in Political Science from Bhavnagar University, Mandaviya is also known for organizing long padyatras (foot marches) in which she took two padyatras as an MLA to spread awareness about the dangers of drugs and girls’ education.
Considering his organizational skills, he was made the youngest secretary of the state BJP in 2013 and general secretary in 2014.
In 2014, he also became in charge of the BJP’s mega membership drive, during which one crore people joined the party.
The following year in 2015, he was selected to represent India at the United Nations where he delivered a speech on the ‘2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’.
As a Union Minister, he is credited with setting up more than 5,100 Jan Aushadhi stores to provide more than 850 medicines at affordable rates and reduce the cost of heart stents and knee implants.
She was awarded by UNICEF for selling 100 million sanitary pads made from oxo-biodegradable technology at a nominal cost using the chain of Jan Aushadhi Kendras for her contribution to menstrual hygiene of women.
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