The Ministry of Welfare adopted the name Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in May 1998. In October 1999, the Tribal Development Division left the ministry to become its own ministry, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. In January 2007, the Minorities Division and the Wakf Unit were moved out of the ministry to form the Ministry of Minority Affairs and the Child Development Division left the ministry to form the Ministry of Women and Child Development. To propagate the ideologies and philosophy of Babu Jagjivan Ram, the 'Babu Jagjivan Ram National Foundation', has been set up by the Ministry.
