24.8.18

Jaitley Resumes Charge of Finance Ministry

Union minister Arun Jaitley has resumed charge of the ministries of finance and corporate affairs after a hiatus of over 100 days, during which he underwent a surgery for kidney ailment.

Jaitley met key finance ministry officials, finance secretary Hasmukh Adhia, financial services secretary Rajeev Kumar, expenditure secretary A N Jha and corporate affairs secretary Injeti Srinivas, soon after resuming office on Thursday. He also met chairmen of Central Board of Direct Taxes and Central Board of Indirect taxes and Customs.

Earlier in the day, a communique from the Rashtrapati Bhavan said, “The President of India, as advised by the prime minister, has directed to assign the portfolios of the minister of finance and minister of corporate affairs to Shri Arun Jaitley.”

Jaitley had undergone a renal transplant operation on May 14. On that day, the charge of his ministry was given to minister for railways and coal Piyush Goyal on an interim basis.

Jaitley had remained a minister without portfolio in the Narendra Modi government since then.

He has been the finance minister since the Modi government came to power in May 2014. He had also held additional charge of ministry of defence as well as that of ministry of information and broadcasting.

During his over three-monthlong break, Jaitley was working from home, which included meetings with officials on key issues. He wrote on various issues of national importance, such as National Register for Citizens in Assam, emergency of over four decades ago, no-confidence motion in Parliament, Rafale fighter jet deal, and the goods and services tax.

He also participated in a couple of events, including banking conclave and the first anniversary of the launch of GST through video conferencing.

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