Alphons Kannanthanam on Sunday took oath as a minister after PM Narendra Modi reshuffled and expanded his Cabinet at a ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhavan. It was a major jig of Team Modi as four junior ministers were elevated to the Cabinet rank and nine fresh faces were inducted as Ministers of State. A former IAS officer of the 1979 batch of Kerala cadre, Alphons Kannanthanam also got a place in Team Modi. Here are things to know about Alphons Kannanthanam:-
– Alphons Kannanthanam is a distinguished former IAS officer of the 1979 batch, Kerala cadre
– He is also a practicing advocate.
– He became famous as Delhi’s Demolition Man when he was Commissioner of the Delhi Development Authority, having cleared DDA areas of encroachment removing around 15,000 illegal buildings
– The encroachment and demolition activity got him listed in Time Magazine’s list of 100 Young Global Leaders in 1994.
– Alphons Kannanthanam retired from the IAS, to get elected as an Independent Member of Legislative Assembly for Kanjirappally in Kerala from 2006 to 2011.
– Ex-IAS officer Alphons Kannanthanam was sworn in as Minister of State
Worth mentioning here is the fact that this might be the last cabinet reshuffle before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.