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Several new ministers attended work on Tuesday, just a day after being inducted into the Union ministry in Monday's reshuffle.
Among the early birds were Sahib Singh Verma (labour), Shanta Kumar (rural development) and Balashenb Vikhe Patil (heavy industries). Yashwant Sinha and Jaswant Singh, who swapped their respective finance and external affairs portfolios, were expected to formally take charge on Wednesday.
Singh, however, held a series of meetings with senior finance ministry officials and The Reserve Bank of India Governor Dr Bimal Jalan.
Some ministers did not assume office waiting for a more auspicious day.
Several ministers of state too took charge of their ministries on Tuesday. They were: Vinod Khanna (tourism), Anant Gangaram Geete (finance), Sumitra Mahajan (IT and communication), A K Moorthy (railways) and Krishnam Raju (food and PDS).
Khanna, one of the two cine stars to be in the Union council, sought the blessings of his senior minister Jagmohan before assuming office.
Speaking to reporters, Sahib Singh Verma promised to curb corruption and infuse work culture in his ministry.
Kumar said he will try to impart a thrust to overall rural development, including poverty alleviation, to improve socio-economic conditions.
The Complete Coverage: Cabinet Reshuffle 2002
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