Harsh Vardhan gets back Health after 5 yrs

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 31

Senior BJP leader Harsh Vardhan today returned as Health Minister, a charge he was unceremoniously stripped of five years ago during the first tenure of the Narendra Modi government.

Vardhan, 65, was Modi’s first choice for the post of Health Minister but was divested of the portfolio in November 2014 mainly for his activist-like zeal against the tobacco lobby. 

As Health Minister in 2014, Vardhan issued the controversial notification mandating tobacco firms to cover 85% pack surface area of cigarettes and other tobacco products with anti-tobacco warnings. The notification came in October 2015 and Vardhan was moved out of Health Ministry in November. The notification eventually came into force from April 1, 2016, when JP Nadda was Health Minister. 

A retired officer who worked with Vardhan in the preliminary days of Modi’s first tenure says, “It’s a personal vindication for Harsh Vardhan.” The priority for Vardhan, who gets to keep his previous portfolios of science and technology and earth sciences, will be the rollout of Ayushman Bharat Project in Mission Mode.

Outgoing Health Minister JP Nadda successfully implemented one leg of PM Modi’s pet Ayushman Bharat Mission which provides Rs 5 lakh annual financial protection to 10 crore poor and vulnerable Indian families. 

Vardhan, a former advisor to the WHO, and a two-time MP from New Delhi’s Chandni Chowk, will take charge on Monday.

Vindication of sorts 

• It’s ironical that Harsh Vardhan should return as Health Minister on World No-Tobacco Day considering one reason behind his ouster was his activist like zeal against the tobacco lobby