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Paswan, Sharad Yadav shifted in reshuffle -- Shourie elevated; Hussain gets Aviation, Mahajan Telecom

Our Bureau

NEW DELHI, Sept. 1

IN a significant reshuffle of the Union Cabinet, aimed at giving a renewed thrust to reforms, the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, today shifted Mr Ram Vilas Paswan from Communications to Coal and Mines, while the Civil Aviation Minister, Mr Shar ad Yadav, has been moved to Labour.

Speculation doing the rounds in the Capital about the possible shifting of the Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, however, proved to be mere rumours. While the Opposition parties have been baying for Mr Sinha's blood in the aftermath of the UTI fiasco, it was perhaps felt that a move at this stage to replace Mr Sinha would not only send wrong signals to foreign investors but would have also been perceived as buckling under Opposition pressure.

The Prime Minister also inducted two new faces -- Mr Karia Munda, a tribal leader, and Mr Ved Prakash Goyal, BJP Treasurer. Two Ministers of State, Mr Arun Shourie and Mr Syed Shanawaz Hussain, have been elevated to Cabinet rank.

While Mr Shourie would continue to hold his existing portfolios of Disinvestment with additional charge of the Department of Development of North-Eastern Region, Mr Hussain would be the new Civil Aviation Minister.

Mr Munda has been given charge of the new Agro and Rural Industries Ministry, while Mr Goyal would be the Minister for Shipping.

The portfolios of Mr Jagmohan, the earlier Minister for Urban Development, and Mr Ananth Kumar, Minister for Tourism, have been interchanged. The Ministry of Communications, however, has been put under Mr Pramod Mahajan, who is also the Minister for Info rmation Technology.

Four new Ministers of State were also inducted into the Council of Ministers, taking the combined strength up to 77. They are Mr Rajiv Pratap Rudi (Commerce), Mr Ravi Shanker Prasad (Coal and Mines), Mr Vijay Goel (PMO and Planning) and Mr M.K. Annasaheb (Rural Development).

The move to shift Mr Paswan and Mr Yadav is being seen as an attempt by the Prime Minister to weed out trouble-spots in certain key Ministries. While Mr Paswan was seen to function in isolation of Government decisions in regard to the Communications Mini stry, Mr Yadav was being perceived as the stumbling block in the Government's efforts to push through the disinvestment exercise in the national carriers, Air India and Indian Airlines.

The reshuffle also has attempted to remove those Ministers, such as the Labour Minister, Mr Satyanarain Jatiya, who it was felt was ineffective in pushing through the Government's reforms measures. Mr Jatiya has shifted to Social Justice and Empowerment.

While the earlier Mines Minister, Mr Sunderlal Patwa, resigned on Friday on health grounds, the other Ministers of State who have been dropped are Mr Devendra Pradhan (Agriculture), Mr Chaoba Singh (Agriculture), Mr Shriram Chauhan (Consumer Affairs, Foo d and Public Distribution) and Mr Jaisingh Rao Gaekwad Patil (Mines).