Modi Government Is The First To have Six Women Cabinet Ministers: Sushma Swaraj

Guwahati: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government is the first government after independence to have six women cabinet ministers with two of them as members of the cabinet committee on security.

Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday tweeted after highlighting the key takeaways from her speech during Mahila Sammelan event in Varanasi. She said in her tweet, “I told the audience that PM Modi’s government is the first government after Independence to have six women cabinet ministers with two of them as members of the cabinet committee on security.”

She further reiterated in her tweet that during Jawaharlal Nehru’s first cabinet (1952-57) it had only one woman- Rajkumari Amrit Kaur as a cabinet minister. Nehru’s second cabinet (1957-62) had no woman in the cabinet ministry. His third government (1962-64) had one woman- Dr. SushilaNayyar as a cabinet minister.

After Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri continued with Dr. Sushila Nayyar as a cabinet minister from 1964-66. Indira Gandhi also continued with her as a cabinet minister from 1966-67, Swaraj mentioned in her tweet.

Swaraj further stated that during Indira Gandhi’s tenure as the Prime Minister from 1967-71, 1971-77 and again from 1980-84, not a single woman was appointed as the cabinet minister.

The external affairs minister also said that Rajiv Gandhi’s cabinet (1984-89) had only one woman as a cabinet minister.

The six-women cabinet ministers under Modi’s government are Sushma Swaraj (External Affairs Minister), Uma Bharti (Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitization), Menaka Sanjay Gandhi ( Ministry of Women & Child Development), Harsimrat Kaur Badal (Ministry of Food Processing Industries), Smriti Irani (Ministry of Textiles and Information & Broadcasting) and Nirmala Sitharaman (Ministry of Defence).

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