Odisha cabinet reshuffle: 21 ministers sworn in, 9 retained, 11 dropped 

By Express News Service

BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday gave form to his new Council of Ministers with 21 ministers taking the oath of workplace at a ceremony held at Lok Seva Bhawan right here.

Odisha Governor Ganeshi Lal administered the oath to the brand new ministers. Thirteen ministers have been sworn in with Cabinet rank whereas eight have been inducted as ministers of state. Nine ministers of the earlier Cabinet have been retained whilst Naveen went for a whole overhaul of his ministry by asking all to submit their resignations on Saturday.

In a primary, 5 ladies joined the ministry whereas western Odisha gained prominence with seven ministers. However, southern Odisha comprising 5 districts of Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur and Rayagada have gotten just one place within the ministry.

Naveen distributed portfolios among the many ministers with Niranjan Pujari getting the Parliamentary Affairs along with Finance, which he retained. However, Pujari needed to lose Excise which was allotted to new face Aswini Kumar Patra. Similarly, Naba Kishore Das retained the Health and Family Welfare portfolio whereas Prafulla Mallick will proceed 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 whereas portfolios of senior minister Ranendra Pratap Swain has been modified to Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment, Fisheries and Animal Resources Development.

Similarly, former minister Pradip Amat has additionally been allotted three key portfolios of Forest and Environment, Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water, and Information and Public Relations. While Pramila Mallick would 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 whereas Tukuni Sahu has acquired Water Resource and Commerce and Transport departments. Ashok Panda has been promoted as a Cabinet Minister with the identical portfolios of Science and Technology, Public Enterprises, Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disability. Rajendra Dholakia, a brand new face, has acquired Planning and Convergence. 

Among the ministers of state, Samir Ranjan Das will proceed with School and Mass Education whereas the important thing portfolio of Home has gone to Tusharkanti Behera together with Electronics and IT, Sports and Youth companies. While Tourism, Odia Language, Literature and Culture, and Excise has been allotted to Aswini Kumar Patra, Pritiranjan Gharai has acquired key portfolios of Rural Development and Technical Education.

Higher Education has been given to new face Rohit Pujari, one other new face Srikant Sahu will maintain Labour and Employees State Insurance. Rita Sahu has acquired Handlooms, Textiles and Handicrafts whereas Basanti Hembram has acquired Women and Child Development and Mission Shakti.