Pralhad Joshi, who won for the fifth time in a row from Dharwad Lok Sabha constituency, assumed office as Union Minister with Cabinet rank, with the portfolios of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and New and Renewable Energy, in New Delhi on June 11.
This is the second time Mr. Joshi has been given Cabinet rank. In the previous government, Mr Joshi served as the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines. In the recent elections, Mr. Joshi had won by a margin of 97,324 votes, defeating the Congress’ Vinod Asuti.
Former Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Piyush Goyal, former Ministers of State B.L. Verma and Nimuben Jayantibhai Bambhaniya, former New and Renewable Energy Minister Shripad Naik and senior officials were present when Mr. Joshi took charge at the two Ministries, a release from PIB said.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Joshi thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving him the opportunity to serve as Minister. “I am grateful to the Prime Minister for giving me the opportunity to serve in the Ministry that is directly related to serving 80 crore Indians,” Mr. Joshi said.
“The PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana is a flagship scheme that provides free foodgrain through the public distribution system and priority will be to implement activities identified by Mr. Goyal in the first 100 days of the government,” he said.
He also said that the resolve was to make India self-sufficient in energy by 2047.
Earlier, along with his wife Jyoti Joshi and family members, Mr. Joshi took part in puja rituals at the new Ministries before officially taking charge. He subsequently held a high-level meeting with the senior officials of the Ministries, who accorded him a warm welcome, the release said.
