Zee Media Bureau/Deepak Nagpal
New Delhi: A day after being sworn in as the prime minister of India, Narendra Modi moves into South Block on Tuesday to officially take charge of the government.
Modi, who will for now lead a government of 45 ministers, is expected to take charge of his duties at 8 am.
Like Modi, members of his Council of Ministers – including 23 of Cabinet rank – are expected to take charge of their respective ministries later today.
Prominent among Modi`s team are ministers like Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley.
Modi, unlike many other contemporary prime ministers, has chosen not to have a big team. Stressing that his focus will be on `minimum government, maximum governance`, Modi has cut down on the number of ministries by merging some of them.
"Keeping our commitment to `Minimum Government, Maximum Governance` -- we have made an unprecedented and positive change in ministry formation," Modi had tweeted prior to his swearing-in.
"Various assembled ministries will be transformed into organic ministries for quicker pace of work and better coordination between departments. This is a step towards smart governance and will give us added strength to fulfil aspirations of the people," the then PM-designate had said on Sunday night.
Among the key and immediate challenges that Modi`s government faces are to revive a flagging economy and rein in inflation; improve upon ties with immediate neighbours and other important countries; strengthen the internal security mechanism, especially to deal with the growing Naxal menace; and to better Centre-State relations in order to ensure a smooth implementation of his ambitious national agenda.
