Union Government Reconstituted the Group of Ministers (GoM) on Telangana

The Union Government on 8 October 2013 reconstituted the Group of Ministers (GoM) on Telangana, reducing the number of ministers from ten to six, headed by Shushil Kumar Shinde.

Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram have been retained. The new entrants are Union Defence Minister A.K. Antony,Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister M. Veerappa Moily and Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh.

V. Narayanasamy, Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions and Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, who was part of the GoM, will now be a special invitee to the new GoM.

The Union Ministers dropped from the GoM are Human Resource Development Minister M. Pallam Raju, Law Minister Kapil Sibal, Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat, Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath, Road Transport Minister Oscar Fernandes, Power Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

The Union Cabinet on 3 October 2013 approved the creation of a new State of Telangana by bifurcating the existing State of Andhra Pradesh. The Union Cabinet also approved the setting up of a Group of Ministers (GoM) to work out the various legal and administrative measures to ensure the safety and security of the residents of all the regions of the State including the guarantee of the Fundamental Rights.