BJP leader from Jharkhand Annapurna Devi has been appointed as the new Women and Child Development Minister as part of the NDA government's third term.
Savitri Thakur is the new minister of state in the ministry of women and child development, according to an official statement.
With challenges such as raising the legal age of marriage for women, combating malnutrition among women and children, and addressing women's safety issues, the new ministers face a formidable agenda.
Devi, 55, succeeds Smriti Irani in this role.
Her political journey began with her election to the Bihar legislative assembly in a 1998 by-election.
She later served as minister of state for Mines and Geology in the Rashtriya Janata Dal government of undivided Bihar.
From 2005 to 2014, Devi was a member of the Jharkhand legislative assembly and became a cabinet minister in Jharkhand in 2012, overseeing the ministry of irrigation, women & child welfare, and registration.
She joined the BJP ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, contesting from Koderma on the party's ticket.
She defeated Babulal Marandi of the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) by a substantial margin of 4.55 lakh votes. -- PTI
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