BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday gave shape to his new Council of Ministers with 21 ministers taking the oath of office at a ceremony held at Lok Seva Bhawan here.
Odisha Governor Ganeshi Lal administered the oath to the new ministers. Thirteen ministers were sworn in with Cabinet rank while eight were inducted as ministers of state. Nine ministers of the previous Cabinet have been retained even as Naveen went for a complete overhaul of his ministry by asking all to submit their resignations on Saturday.
In a first, five women joined the ministry while western Odisha gained prominence with seven ministers. However, southern Odisha comprising five districts of Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur and Rayagada have got only one place in the ministry.
Naveen distributed portfolios among the ministers with Niranjan Pujari getting the Parliamentary Affairs in addition to Finance, which he retained. However, Pujari had to lose Excise which was allotted to new face Aswini Kumar Patra. Similarly, Naba Kishore Das retained the Health and Family Welfare portfolio while Prafulla Mallick will continue with Steel, Mines and Works.
Jagannath Saraka from Rayagada, who was a Minister of State, has been promoted to Cabinet with Law, Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe Development, Minorities and Backward Class Welfare. Former minister Pratap Deb has been rewarded with three heavy portfolios of Industries, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises while portfolios of senior minister Ranendra Pratap Swain has been changed to Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment, Fisheries and Animal Resources Development.
Similarly, former minister Pradip Amat has also been allotted three key portfolios of Forest and Environment, Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water, and Information and Public Relations. While Pramila Mallick will be the new Revenue and Disaster Management Minister, Housing and Urban Development portfolio has gone to Usha Devi.
Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak has been allotted the Food and Consumer Welfare and Cooperation portfolios while Tukuni Sahu has got Water Resource and Commerce and Transport departments. Ashok Panda has been promoted as a Cabinet Minister with the same portfolios of Science and Technology, Public Enterprises, Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disability. Rajendra Dholakia, a new face, has got Planning and Convergence.
Among the ministers of state, Samir Ranjan Das will continue with School and Mass Education while the key portfolio of Home has gone to Tusharkanti Behera along with Electronics and IT, Sports and Youth services. While Tourism, Odia Language, Literature and Culture, and Excise has been allotted to Aswini Kumar Patra, Pritiranjan Gharai has got key portfolios of Rural Development and Technical Education.
Higher Education has been given to new face Rohit Pujari, another new face Srikant Sahu will hold Labour and Employees State Insurance. Rita Sahu has got Handlooms, Textiles and Handicrafts while Basanti Hembram has got Women and Child Development and Mission Shakti.