Reward for Corona Management: Mansukh Mandaviya, who is looking after the Ministry of Chemicals, asked companies to increase production when there was a shortage of Remdesivir and Posaforce

Coming from the powerful Patel community, Mandaviya can emerge as the first choice as the Chief Minister.

When the list of ministers was released from Rashtrapati Bhavan on Wednesday night, the name of Mansukh Bhai Mandaviya as Health Minister was shocking. Surprises abounded in the country going through the pandemic, as Dr. Harsh Vardhan, who was sacked as Health Minister, is an established medical practitioner. Not only this, 6 doctors are also included in the current cabinet.

Despite this, there are two special reasons for giving Mansukh Mandaviya the responsibility of the country’s health. Informed sources in the government and the party say that the first reason is that his role in the management of Corona has been very important. The second reason is that his prospects in Gujarat politics are far-reaching.

Even though Mansukh Mandaviya is not a doctor, he is considered an expert in pharma companies in the BJP. Looking after the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, he ensured the supply of essential medicines. When there was a shortage of Remdesivir in the country, he directly contacted the producers to speed up its production within 24 hours.

During the black fungus crisis, Mandaviya made sure to ramp up production of its drug Posaconazole. Contacted the private company and made sure to reach the tablet hospitals under the name Posaforce. During that time, Mansukh Bhai also responded vehemently to the allegations of the Maharashtra government on the availability of Remdesivir.

The challenge before the government was that the drug supply-production is under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, but the management of Corona is with the Ministry of Health. Now both these ministries have come under the same minister, which will make the work easier.

Being prepared for Gujarat politics

Being a confidante of Modi-Shah, Mansukh Mandaviya is being groomed for a role in Gujarat. In view of the elections to be held in the state next year, he has been given an important ministry. Coming from the powerful Patel community, Mandaviya can emerge as the first choice as the Chief Minister. In the next 12 months, he can increase his stature by playing an active role as Health Minister.

Side effect of cabinet expansionThe chairperson and 4 members of the parliamentary committee considering the data protection bill, now the minister’s law stuck again

International social media companies and e-commerce houses have blossomed with the first major expansion of the Modi cabinet. Due to this reshuffle, many thorns have been removed from their path. The biggest advantage is that the data protection law has now gone into cold storage.

Meenakshi Lekhi, chairperson of the Joint Committee of Parliament considering this bill, and 4 other members have been included in the cabinet. Two members have been made cabinet and minister of state in the Ministry of Information and Technology. This has created a new parliamentary situation.

During the entire Corona period, this parliamentary committee under the leadership of Meenakshi Lekhi had prepared the draft of the bill. But the report had not yet come among the members of the committee. Technically speaking, the report was not ready. As per the parliamentary convention, a new chairman of the committee will be made. 4 new members will be created.

The new chairman will not accept the current report as it is. The process of the committee will start afresh. Obviously this work will not be completed till the monsoon session. Maybe till the winter session. Committee member Manish Tewari of Congress told Bhaskar that our hard work has been ruined.

BJD’s Bhartrihari Mahtab, Rajiv Chandrashekhar, Ashwini Vaishnav, Vivek Tankha attended every meeting. The bill was ready. But did not reach us.