Ashwini Kumar Choubey assumes charge as MoS health

The second floor office of the Nirman Bhawan today reverberated with the chants of sacred hymns and blowing of conch shells when Ashwini Kumar Choubey assumed charge as the minister of state for health.
Placing a framed picture of the Goddess Durga on the table, Choubey, a prominent Brahmin face from Bihar, accompanied by four priests, performed an elaborate puja, sprinkling holy Ganga water in his office while taking charge.
Immediately after the ceremony, he got down to work by signing a file relating to laying the foundation stone of a new medical college at Nahaan in Shimla.
After assuming charge, he said that raising awareness about public health and reducing people's dependence on "medicines and needles" would be high on his agenda.

He stressed that cleanliness and good health were linked and vowed to take forward Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mission of a clean and healthy India with dedication.
"My motto will be to spread awareness about public health so that people's dependence on medicines and needles is reduced," Choubey said.

Terming as unfortunate the death of 49 infants in a month in the Farrukhabad district hospital in Uttar Pradesh, he said that the government would fight these challenges.
Most of the children died from "perinatal asphyxia", a condition in which the child cannot breathe properly, officials said today.
Elected to the Bihar Assembly for five consecutive terms, Choubey, 64, represents Buxar in the Lok Sabha and was a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Estimates, Standing Committee on Energy, and Consultative Committee on Health and Family Welfare. He is also a member of Central Silk Board.

Choubey is known for the slogan "Ghar-ghar me ho shouchalaya ka nirman, tabhi hoga ladli bitiya ka kanyadaan" and he also helped in constructing 11,000 toilets for Mahadalit families in Bihar.
He held portfolios such as urban development, PHED and Health both in NDA I (2005-2010) and NDA II (2010-2013).