Modi takes stock of 'independent' ministries

Many key portfolios are being handled by ministers of state and not the cabinet ranked senior leaders

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a 90-minute meeting on Tuesday with ministers of state with independent charge in his council of ministers. Bharatiya Janata Party  president Amit Shah was also present.

According to sources, the PM asked for feedback on policies and programmes, and their experience in the government.

Prominent MOS with independent charges are coal, power and new & renewable energy with Piyush Goyal; petroleum and natural gas with Dharmendra Pradhan; environment with Prakash Javadekar, and commerce and industry with Nirmala Sitharaman.

Others in this category are – V K Singh (statistics and programme implementation), Santosh Kumar Gangwar (textiles), Inderjit Singh (planning), Bandaru Dattatreya (labour), Shripad Naik (Indian medicine), Rajiv Pratap Rudy (skill development), Sarbananda Sonowal (youth affairs and sports), Mahesh Sharma (culture) and Jitendra Singh (development of northeastern region).