Indian Health Minister Resigns amid cabinet reshuffle: What you need to know

Picture courtesy: The Times of India

1. Indian Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan and his deputy Ashwini Chaube both resigned today ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet reshuffle. They are among the dozen ministers asked to go.

2. Their resignation comes as the government confronts criticism of its handling of the second wave of Covid in April-May which appraised India's health infrastructure and tarnished the image of the country outside.

3. Now the government's next priority is to halt the third wave of Covid and accelerating the pace of vaccination. Lately, the opposition had made a public outcry regarding the insufficient supply of vaccines and dealing with Covid in May-June.

4. Sources said that PM Narendra Modi wants to give a message that performance was the key. Who will replace the health minister is not clear till this reporting.

5. Harsh Vardhan is an ENT surgeon. He was sworn in as Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Minister of Science and Technology and Minister of Earth sciences on 30th May 2019.

6. He had played a key role in the "Polio Mission Programme" in India. He was elected to the office of Chairperson of Executive Board of the World Health Organization from

May 22,2020.

7. After quitting, the former health minister found congress leaders supporting him as Jairam Ramesh said the "good man" has been made the scapegoat.

8. The Covid-19 has proved to be uncertain for health ministers of several countries. Brazil has seen four health ministers since the beginning of the pandemic. The Czech Republic has seen five health ministers and in the United Kingdom health minister also resigned involving in a controversy of social distancing.