November 9, 2020: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday announced that his government is changing the name of the Ministry of Shipping to Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways. The prime minister made this announcement during the launch event of Ropax ferry service between Ghogha (Bhavnagar) and Hazira (near Surat) in Gujarat, through video conferencing.
“The name of Ministry of Shipping is being changed to Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said. However, an official announcement is yet to happen.
This is not the first time the Modi government has changed the name of a ministry. Earlier, the name of the Ministry of Human Resource and Development was changed to the Ministry of Education under the New Education Policy 2020.
The decision to change the name of the Shipping Ministry to the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways is part of the government’s efforts to transform the ports and create world-class Inland Water Transport.
“The Ministry of Shipping encompasses within its fold shipping and ports sectors which include Shipbuilding and Ship-repair, Major Ports, National Waterways, and Inland Water Transport,” the ministry writes in a blog published on its official website.
“The capacity of the ports in terms of their berths and cargo handling equipment needs to be vastly improved to cater to the growing requirements of the overseas trade. The shipping industry needs to be enabled to carry higher shares of the sea-borne trade in indigenous bottoms.
“Historically, investment in the transport sector, particularly in the ports, have been made by the States mainly because of the large volume of resources required, long gestation periods, uncertain returns and various externalities, both positive and negative, associated with this infrastructure,” it noted in the blog.
Source: JAGRAN ENGLISH
