Scindia takes charge of power ministry

Jyotiraditya Scindia, who took over as power minister on Monday described his new job as a "daunting" challenge but hoped that he would be able to perform his duties well.

Scindia, a young Congress MP from Madhya Pradesh, has been appointed as minister of state (independent charge) for power in Sunday's Cabinet reshuffle.

"It is a daunting challenge and I look forward to support and guidance from both my ministry officials and my colleagues in the other departments," Scindia told the media after taking the charge.

He said power is an extremely strategic and important sector for the country's economy. "It is a very important ministry and it is a very big challenge and a very big charge," he said.

He said he would work at ensuring connectivity and bandwidth for electricity right down to the grassroot level. "We would do that through our multifarious economic means," Scindia said, adding that he would like to work in coordination with his peers in other ministries. (I will) ensure that there is greater coordination with my colleagues in both the ministries in coal and environment, to ensure that generation and execution on generation projects happens at a fast pace," he said.

Scindia said he would fix the priorities after having a clear understanding of the sector and the subject. "First I will understand and absorb as much information as I can and then move forward, the way I did in the ministry of telecom and post and ministry of commerce and industry," the minister said.

Lauding the efforts of his party's general secretary, Scindia said, "He (Rahul Gandhi) has a very modern bent of mind, he believes in meritocracy, he in every possible way is opening every possible door and breaking every possible wall to allow actual participation from 1.2 billion people in the public service scheme."

He also thanked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi for bestowing him with this responsibility.