Bureaucrat-turned-politician, Alphons Kannanthanam, on Monday took charge of the Tourism Ministry which he said, has a "great role" to play in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream of creating a new India where all citizens can live with dignity.
The 1979 batch IAS officer Kannanthanam refused to sit in his cabin and waited for almost an hour for his predecessor, Dr Mahesh Sharma, to arrive and hand him charge of the Ministry.
"I am so grateful to Maheshji who has been a friend and well-wisher for a long time. He has done a fantastic job in tourism and culture and I am happy that I get to start where he left off," he said
The new Minister is known for his strong anti-corruption stance. Today, starting on a whole new role, Kannanthanam seemed confident of success"I am happy to be part of the PM's dream of creating a new India where all Indians can live with dignity and the Tourism Ministry has a great role to play in this," he said
Spelling out his vision for the future, Kannanthanam said India can take over the world as it is a 5,000-year-old civilization.
"We can go much much beyond incredible India. We want to create a India where we love ourselves, love a clean India and its history. Then we tell the world, come and see us," the new Minister said.