Portfolios of new Odisha ministers announced

Bhubaneswar, June 5 (IANS) Soon after the oath-taking ceremony of his revamped cabinet on Sunday, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik distributed portfolios to the new ministers.

On the advice of Patnaik, Governor Ganeshi Lal issued an order in this regard. The CM has kept Home and General Administration & Public Grievances Departments and allotted all remaining departments among the newly-inducted ministers.

Ministers Naba Kishore Das, Samir Ranjan Dash, Ashok Panda and Prafulla Mallik, who were re-inducted in the new cabinet will continue with their earlier portfolios.

Das held charge of Health and Family Welfare, Panda of Science and Technology, Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disability, Dash of School and Mass Education, and Mallick of Steel and Mines.

Jagannath Saraka and Tusharkanti Behera, who were also re-inducted, have been given additional one department each. Saraka will continue to hold the portfolios of ST & SC Development, Minorities & Backward Classes Welfare with additional charge of Law.

Behera, apart from holding the Sports Department, will also remain in charge of the Electronics & Information Technology department. He will also serve as Minister of State for Home.

Also, Niranjan Pujari remains Finance Minister, and has been given the charge of the Parliamentary Affairs department.

Ranendra Pratap Swain has been given Agriculture and Farmers' Empowerment, Fisheries and Animal Resources Development while Pradip Kumar Amat will head Forest and Environment, Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water, Information and Public Relations Departments.

Similarly, Revenue & Disaster Management department will remain with Pramila Mallik whereas Usha Devi is the new Housing and Urban Development Minister of Odisha, Pratap Keshari Deb will hold charge of Industries, MSME, and Energy and Atanu Sabyasachi Nayaka of Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare and Co-operation.

Two important departments - Water Resources and Commerce and Transport - have been given to Tukuni Sahu while first-time minister Rajendra Dholakia has been given the Planning and Convergence department.

Similarly, few important departments have been given to young ministers Pritiranjan Gharai (Rural Development, Skill Development & Technical Education), Srikanta Sahu (Labour and Employees' State Insurance), Rohit Pujari (Higher Education), Rita Sahu (Handlooms, Textiles & Handicrafts), and Basanti Hembram (Women & Child Development and Mission Shakti).

Sharing a picture of all new ministers in his Twitter handle, Patnaik said: "The only way to lead the people is to serve the people."

The Chief Minister met the new ministers in the evening at his residence and advised them to work in accordance with his government's 5T principle of governance. He also asked the ministers to go for extensive tours to different parts of the state and address issues of the people, a minister said.