Modi Cabinet expansion, 43 ministers to be sworn in this evening

By Naveen Kapoor
New Delhi [India] July 7 : As many as 43 new members are all set to be sworn in this evening in Prime Minister Modi's new cabinet which will be one of the most inclusive with record representation of SC, ST members.
It is learnt from reliable sources that post-expansion, there will be 12 members from the SC community, including two in the cabinet; eight members will be from Scheduled tribes in the council of ministers out of which three will be in the cabinet.
After cabinet expansion, the Modi government is expected to have 27 OBC leaders out of which five will be in the cabinet.
Sources further informed that there will be a substantial increase in the number of professionals in the cabinet.
"Post expansion there will be 13 lawyers, six doctors, five engineers, and seven civil servants in total," the sources said.
As reported by ANI yesterday, there will be a special focus on bringing down the average age of the Modi cabinet, post-expansion there will be 14 ministers below the age of 50, and six will be in the cabinet.
To bring in the administrative and federal experience of governance, 39 former MLAs and four former Chief Minister's will be part of the expanded cabinet
Leaders from minority communities will also find greater representation after rejig.
It is learned that one member each from Christian, Muslim, and Sikh communities and two Buddhists to be included.
After expansion, it is learnt that there will also be five ministers from North East India in total.
Meanwhile, Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar and Education Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank have resigned from the Union Cabinet, ahead of Cabinet expansion.