JP Nadda to take charge as Union Health Minister; Anupriya Patel, Prataprao Ganpatrao Jadhav get MOS positions

New Delhi: After serving the country as Union Health Minister, in Modi Government 1.0, Shri Jagat Prasad Nadda is all set to reclaim the position in the recently formed Modi Cabinet 3.0. Additionally, he will also be heading the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers as a cabinet minister. 

The two portfolios of Health and Chemical and Fertilizers, of which the pharmaceutical sector is a part, were earlier held by Shri Mansukh Mandavia, who will now serve as the Labour and Employment minister

Born on December 2, 1960, in Patna, Bihar, Shri Nadda did his B.A. from Patna College, Patna University thereafter pursuing his LL.B. from Faculty of Law, Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla.

Mr Nadda started his political journey with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the students' wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He became president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the BJP's youth wing, in 1991.

He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2012 and made a member of the BJP's parliamentary board in 2014 when Amit Shah took over as party president.

Nadda had previously served as the health minister in PM Modi's first cabinet from 2014 to 2019. He then succeeded Amit Shah as BJP chief in 2020, with Amit Shah continuing as Union Home Minister.

Anupriya Patel Continues as MOS Health, also to serve as MOS Chemicals and Fertilizers 

The winner from the Mirzapur constituency, Smt Anupriya Patel is again set to don the hat as the Minister of State (MOS) Health and Family Welfare. In addition to this, she has also been named the MOS for Chemicals and Fertilizers. 

Patel has been the president of the Apna Dal (Soneylal) party since 2016 and was the Minister of State for Commerce and Industry of India in the last government. She represents Mirzapur in the Lok Sabha since 2014. Patel was also the Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare from 2016 to 2019.

Common Head to both Health and Chemicals and Fertilizers 

The move of having a common head for both the Health Ministry and the Chemical and Fertilizer Ministry seems to be in line with a long-standing demand that pharma and health should be governed together.

Currently, the Department of Pharmaceuticals falls under the Ministry of Chemical and Fertilizer and not Health. A Parliamentary Panel had earlier recommended to the Central Government that the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) should be brought under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare which presently falls under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.

It felt that the mandate of the Department of Pharmaceuticals is very much related to the health sector like drugs & medical devices, their production, development, control, promotion, education, training and research.

Shri Jadhav Prataprao Ganpatrao gets AYUSH

Shri Jadhav Prataprao Ganpatrao from Shiv Sena is going to serve as Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Ayush, and has also been handed over the position of MOS in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Before embarking on a career in national politics, he served three terms as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and Member of the State Minister for Sports, Youth Welfare, and Irrigation in the Government of Maharashtra. He was Re-elected to the 18th Lok Sabha (4th term) in 2024, winning from the Buldhana constituency in Maharashtra.