I shall be raksha mantri round the clock :Nirmala Sitharaman

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Smt.Nirmala Sitharaman who took as India’s first full-time woman defence minister on Thursday said she will focus on armed forces modernisation and local manufacturing.

Smt.Nirmala said “I shall be raksha mantri round the clock,”  thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for reposing faith in her with such a “critical” portfolio.

Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman took over charge as Defence Minister, here today. On her arrival at the Ministry of Defence in South Block, Smt. Sitharaman was received by outgoing Defence Minister Shri Arun Jaitley, Minister of State for Defence Dr Subhash Bhamre, Defence Secretary Shri Sanjay Mitra, Defence Secretary (Defence Production) Shri AK Gupta, Chairman DRDO & Secretary Department of Defence R&D Dr S Christopher and other senior officials. Smt Sitharaman is the first full-time Woman Defence Minister of India. Immediately after assuming office, the Defence Minister approved a grant of over Rs 13 crore which will be released for 8685 ex-servicemen, widows and dependents out of the Armed Forces Flag Day Fund. She also approved financial assistance out of Raksha Mantri Ex-Servicemen Fund.

Thirty-five years since India’s defence ministry last saw a woman at its helm, there is another: Nirmala Sitharaman. The only woman to head India’ defence ministry was Indira Gandhi: first in 1975 and again in 1980-82.

Madurai-born Sitharaman, who was an earlier minister of state for commerce, has a master in economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and has worked for PwC, London and briefly with BBC World Service.

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