New Delhi: Labour minister Santosh Gangwar has resigned from the Union Cabinet ahead of the scheduled Cabinet reshuffle this evening.
Gangwar, who held the position of Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Labour and Employment resigned from his post early this morning.
When asked whether he has resigned from the post of Labour Minister, Gangwar answered in the affirmative. “Yes I have resigned,” he told PTI.
He, however, said he is not aware what his new role in the government will be.
This will be the first reshuffle in the Council of Ministers by Prime Minister Narendra Modi since he assumed charge for a second term in May 2019.
The Prime Minister is expected to bring in young faces and give representation to various social groups and regions in the reshuffle.
Gangwar played an important role in labour reforms as four labour codes on wages, industrial relations, social security and occupational safety, health and working conditions were passed during his tenure in Modi 2.0.
The ministry has firmed up rules under the codes, while states are yet to finalise rules in their domain.
Since labour is a concurrent subject, states are also required to firm up and notify rules under the labour codes in order to operationalise those across the country.
In May 2019, Gangwar was re-elected to the 17th Lok Sabha from the Bareilly constituency, in Uttar Pradesh. It was his 8th term in the Lower House.
He was the Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas with additional charge of Parliamentary Affairs in the 13th Lok Sabha. Prior to this, Gangwar was the Minister of State for Science and Technology with additional charge of Parliamentary Affairs in 1999.
Gangwar was also the chairman of the PAC (Public Accounts Committee).
Earlier, Gangwar held the charge of the Ministry of Textiles (Independent Charge). He joined the Ministry of Finance as Minister of State from July 5, 2016 and served till September 3, 2017. During his tenure he was a member of the GST Council and was instrumental in the successful rolling out of GST in India.
He was the Minister of State for Labour and Employment (Independent Charge) from September 3, 2017 in the 16th Lok Sabha.
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