BHUBANESWAR: In the biggest ever reshuffle in his 17-year tenure, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday inducted 10 new ministers and elevated two Ministers of State to Cabinet rank with Finance and Excise portfolios going to senior leader Sashibhusan Behera.
Ten ministers were dropped on Saturday to make way for the Chief Minister to revamp his Cabinet, the first since 2014 when he took over the reins of the Government for the fourth consecutive term. The ministers were administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor SC Jamir in the presence of the Chief Minister and other senior ministers at the Raj Bhavan.
Former Speaker of the Assembly Niranjan Pujari, who was inducted in the Ministry, has been entrusted with Housing and Urban Development and Industries portfolios while another former Speaker Maheswar Mohanty has been alloted Revenue and Disaster Management.
Similarly, another old hand, Surya Narayan Patro will be the new Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare and Cooperation Minister while Prafulla Samal has been given charge of Women and Child Development and Mission Shakti portfolios.
Minister of State for Commerce and Transport Ramesh Majhi, elevated to Cabinet rank, is the new Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Development Minister. Pratap Jena, who has been taken in as a Cabinet minister, has been given Health and Family Welfare and Law portfolios. Minister of State for Steel and Mines Prafulla Malllik has been elevated as a Cabinet minister and entrusted with Steel and Mines and Energy portfolios.
Among the Ministers of State who were sworn in on Sunday, Nrusingha Charan Sahu has been given Commerce and Transport portfolios while Sushant Singh has got the Labour and Employees’ State Insurance portfolios. Government chief whip Anant Das is the new Higher Education Minister while Electronics and Information Technology and Sports and Youth Affairs have gone to newly inducted Minister of State Chandra Sarathi Behera. All the four ministers of state inducted on Sunday have been given independent charge.
Besides, the Chief Minister also reshuffled the portfolios of several other ministers. Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Bijoyshree Routray will be the new Forest and Environment Minister while Agriculture, Farmers Empowerment, Fisheries and Animal Resources Development portfolios have gone to Excise Minister Damodar Rout. Bikram Keshari Arukha has been given Rural Development portfolio besides Information and Public Relations and Parliamentary Affairs, while Usha Devi has got Skill Development and Technical Education besides Planning and Coordination.
Badrinarayan Patro, who was the Rural Development Minister, has been given School and Mass Education, Science and Technology portfolios while Panchayatiraj and Drinking Water portfolios have gone to Pradip Maharathi.
The ministers who got the axe include Pradip Kumar Amat, Debi Prasad Mishra, Lal Behari Himirika, Jogendra Behera, Pushpendra Singhdeo, Arun Kumar Sahoo, Sanjay Dasburma, Sudam Marndi, Pranab Prakash Das and Pradeep Panigrahi.
Amat, who had on Saturday resigned as Finance and Health Minister, is tipped to be appointed as the Speaker of the Odisha Assembly. Bijay Nayak, the legislator from Karanjia, whose name figured in the list of probable ministers was, however, not inducted.
Badly managed event: Mishra
BHUBANESWAR: Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly and Congress stalwart Narasingh Mishra alleged that official protocol was ‘deliberately violated’ in the swearing-in ceremony of the ministers at the Raj Bhavan where he had to sit in the fourth row. Though as per protocol, the Leader of the Opposition is to be treated at par with the Cabinet ministers, he had to sit in the fourth row. He said Cabinet ministers, Ministers of State, MPs and MLAs were sitting in the rows in front of him. Mishra said in the chaos of the ‘badly managed’ event, he was even pushed by a reporter.