MM Pallam Raju has replaced the former Union Minister for Human Resource and Development after the recent Cabinet shuffle. Taking over the charge from Kapil Sibal, he said that he will “carry forward the good work done by Sibal.”
The new portfolio is considered to be very crucial for Raju as a number of higher education reforms are still pending in the Parliament. The ministry has also set a target of achieving gross enrolment ratio in the sector at 30 per cent by 2020.Raju was the Minister of State in the Defence Ministry prior to this appointment. He represents the Kakinada constituency of Andhra Pradesh.
Also, the Minister of State for HRD has been given to Shashi Tharoor. The portfolio was earlier held by D Puradeswari. “HRD Ministry is an important area. If we can’t educate and train our people we will not be able to take advantage of extra ordinary dividend we have,” he said.
According to the sources, Shashi Tharoor is a Member of Parliament from the Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala who entered politics in 2009. Until 2007, he was a career official at the United Nations, rising to Under-Secretary General for Communications and Public Information, but resigning after losing to Ban-Ki-moon in the 2007 election for the Secretary-General. After his entry into politics, he served as Minister of State for the Ministry of External Affairs, but resigned in less than a year after a controversy.
