In a major Cabinet reshuffle, Mansukh Mandaviya, a Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat was made the Health Minister of India on Wednesday, replacing Dr Harsh Vardhan who was in charge of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Earth Sciences since 2019. Mandaviya has also been given the charge of Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi led-NDA government.

Besides overhauling of ministerial portfolios, the Health Ministry has also been merged with the Chemical and Fertilizers Ministry. The decision comes at a crucial time when the second wave is not over yet, and the country has to deal with the impending third wave. With the clubbing of both the ministries, a better management of supply of medicines, other medical equipment like oxygen cylinders can be envisaged unlike the recent crisis when thousands of people succumbed to Covid in view of acute shortage of essential lifesaving drugs, medical equipment and shortage of beds, among others.

Mandaviya was born in a middle-class farmer family in a village called Hanol in the Bhavnagar district of Gujarat. He studied veterinary science at the Gujarat Agricultural University’s Dantiwada campus and later completed his Masters in Political Science from Bhavnagar University.

His political career began in 2002 where he fought the Palitana Constituency and became the youngest MLA in Gujarat. In the year 2004, he had also organized a 123 km long Padyatra, titled "Kanya Kelavani Jyot Padyatra" for the social cause 'Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao' where he covered 45 educational backward villages of his constituency. Then again in 2006 he organized a 127 km “Padyatra” connecting 52 villages of his constituency with the title "Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao, Vyasan Hatao.

Mandaviya is also a hands-on participant of Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP). In May 2019, he was also honoured by the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) for his contribution to women’s menstrual hygiene.

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