Mamata shuffles round few ministers, retains key portfolios

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday unveiled her new council of ministers as 43 Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders have been sworn in at a low-key ceremony in Raj Bhavan in Kolkata.
Banerjee retained key portfolios equivalent to Home and Hill Affairs, Personnel and Administration, Health and Family Welfare, Land, Refugee and Rehabilitation, Information and Cultural Affairs, and North Bengal Development. She gave up the Minority Affairs and Madrasah Education Department to Mohammed Gulam Rabbani.
Of the 43 ministers, 24 are of the Cabinet rank, 10 are ministers of state with impartial cost, and 9 are ministers of state (MoS).
“We have inducted 16 new ministers in the Cabinet. There are nine women ministers [including Banerjee], seven ministers represent the minority community and four each are from the SC and ST communities,” Banerjee mentioned after the oath-taking ceremony.
Amit Mitra, Bratya Basu, and Rathin Ghosh have been sworn in just about. While Mitra is unwell and suffers from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), each Basu and Ghosh are recuperating from Covid-19.
Mitra stays the finance minister and also will head the Department of Planning and Statistics & Programme Monitoring. Among the opposite senior ministers, Subrata Mukherjee retained the Panchayat and Rural Development division, and was given the extra cost of Public Enterprises and Industrial Reconstruction whereas Firhad Hakim was appointed the Minister of Transport, and Housing. The MoS (Independent cost) for Health, Chandrima Bhattacharya, took over from him within the Urban Development and Municipal Affairs division.
Partha Chatterjee retained the Parliamentary Affairs division however was changed as Minister of Education by Bratya Basu, who had the 2 portfolios which might be the duty of the minister from 2011 to 2013.
Chatterjee, who’s among the many senior-most ministers within the authorities, will even head the departments of Information Technology and Electronics, and Industry, Commerce and Enterprise.
Mamata Banerjee appointed Rathin Ghosh, one of many new ministers, the Food and Supplies minister. His predecessor Jyotipriyo Mallick, throughout whose tenure the federal government confronted a backlash over a ration rip-off, was appointed the brand new Minister of Forest. Mallick will even head the Non-Conventional and Renewable Energy Sources division. At the forest division, he shall be assisted by Jhargram MLA and Santhali actor Birbaha Hansda.
Shashi Panja, the one one of many eight ladies ministers (excluding the chief minister) to get a Cabinet rank, will proceed because the Minister for Women and Child Development and Social Welfare.
Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay was appointed the Minister of Agriculture whereas his Power portfolio was handed over to Minister of Sports Aroop Biswas as an extra cost. Biswas was the sports activities minister within the earlier tenure too. This time, he shall be assisted by former India cricketer and MoS Manoj Tiwari.
BJP chief Suvendu Adhikari’s detractor and TMC Purba Medinipur district president Akhil Giri, who’s one other huge title among the many 16 new ministers, was made MoS for Fisheries (Independent cost). Former IPS officer Humayun Kabir, who gave up his profession within the police to hitch politics and win from Debra, was positioned answerable for the Department of Technical Education, Training, and Skill Development.
The chief minister appointed senior North Bengal chief Biplab Mitra — one other huge title among the many debutant ministers — on the helm of the Agricultural Marketing division. Senior chief Manas Bhunia, who was a minister within the TMC-Congress authorities that got here to energy in 2011, was positioned answerable for Water Resources Investigation and Development. The Irrigation and Waterways division went to Soumen Kumar Mahapatra.
Sadhan Pande was retained because the Minister of Consumer Affairs & Self Help Group and Self Employment whereas Asansol Uttar MLA Moloy Ghatak retained the Law and Judicial division whereas taking up the Public Works division from Aroop Biswas. His Labour portfolio was handed over to MoS (Independent cost) Becharam Manna.
Among the opposite notable names, Bankim Chandra Hazra was given the Sundarbans Affairs division whereas Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Textiles went to Chandranath Sinha. Salboni MLA Srikant Mahato is the MoS for MSME and Textile.
Mamata Banerjee stored Sujit Bose on the helm of the fireplace division whereas Indranil Sen will proceed as tourism minister. Sen will even proceed to be an MoS for data and cultural affairs.
Pandua MLA Ratna De Nag was positioned answerable for the departments of atmosphere, and science and know-how and biotechnology. Manbazar MLA Sandhyarani Tudu was made the MoS (Independent cost) of Paschimanchal Unnayan Affairs. She will even be the junior minister within the Parliamentary Affairs division.
Bulu Chik Baraik, the MLA from Malbazar in north Bengal, was appointed MoS (impartial cost) for the backward courses welfare and tribal improvement division.
Keshpur MLA Seuli Saha is the brand new MoS of Panchyat and Rural Development whereas Akhruzzaman, the Raghunathganj MLA, would be the MoS for Power. Mekhliganj MLA Paresh Chandra Adhikary was named the MoS for School Education whereas Mothabhari legislator Sabina Yasmin will help Soumen Mahapatra on the Irrigation and Waterways division. As an MoS, Yasmin will even take care of the division of North Bengal Development.
While Ranibandh MLA Jyotsna Mandi was named the MoS for Food and Supplies Bishnupur MLA Dilip Mondal is MoS Transport.
Later within the day, the chief minister introduced that Nirmal Ghosh and Tapas Roy can be the TMC’s chief whip and deputy chief whip within the Assembly. Ashish Banerjee would be the deputy speaker.
— With PTI Inputs