Mansukh Mandaviya new Health Minister

New Delhi : Manuskh Mandaviya was made the new Union Health Minister as the country battles against the COVID-19 pandemic on Wednesday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi effected a major overhaul of the Union Cabinet.

Mandaviya has also been given the Chemicals and Fertilizers Ministry, a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique said Wednesday.

The 49-year-old parliamentarian from Gujarat, is among the seven ministers promoted to the Cabinet on Wednesday. He studied veterinary science at the Gujarat Agricultural University and later completed a masters in political science.

He began as a member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and rose through the ranks in the BJP. At 28, and became the youngest MLA in 2002.

Mandaviya replaced Dr Harsh Vardhan and will be handling the government's efforts to fight COVID-19, as the third wave of the pandemic is predicted.

Fifteen Cabinet ministers and 28 Ministers of State were sworn-in by President Ram Nath Kovind at a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan.