Himanta Biswa Sarma effects major reshuffle in Assam cabinet

Guwahati: A major reshuffle of portfolios was effected by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday, and four newly inducted ministers were assigned their departments.

Sarma will hold Home, Public Works Building and National Highways, Public Works Roads, and Medical Education and Research departments, with some portfolios assigned to other ministers.

He will also be in charge of Personnel and any other department not assigned to other ministers, an official notification said.

Among the new ministers, Prasanta Phukan has been allotted Power and Skill, Employment and Entrepreneurship departments, and will assist the chief minister in the Medical Education and Research department.

Kaushik Rai will hold Food, Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs, Mines and Minerals, and the newly created Barak Valley Development departments.

Departments of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary, and Fishery have been allocated to Krishnendu Paul, who will also assist the CM in Public Works Roads department, the notification signed by Chief Secretary Ravi Kota said.

Rupesh Gowala has been given Labour Welfare and Tea Tribes and Adivasi Welfare departments, besides assisting the CM in the Home department.

Atul Bora, the president of BJP ally AGP, was given charge of Excise department in the reshuffle but lost Animal Husbandry & Veterinary department. He retained Agriculture, Horticulture, Border Area Development and Implementation of Assam Accord departments.

The other AGP minister, Keshab Mahanta, has been allocated Revenue and Disaster Management department, besides his existing portfolios of Information Technology and Science, Technology and Climate Change.

Transport, Excise and Fishery departments, which were given to Mahanta in June, were allocated to other ministers in the latest reshuffle.

Urkhao Gwra Brahma, a MLA of the ruling coalition’s third partner UPPL, had his departments unchanged and will continue to hold Handloom, Textile and Sericulture, Soil Conservation and Welfare of Bodoland, the notification said.

Ajanta Neog also retained both her departments, Finance and Women and Child Development.

Sarma's close aide Pijush Hazarika was stripped off the Parliamentary Affairs portfolio, but will continue to hold his other three departments – Social Justice & Empowerment, Water Resources and Information, Public Relations, Printing and Stationery.

Another minister known to enjoy close proximity to the CM, Jayanta Malla Baruah, lost two of his existing departments, Skill, Employment & Entrepreneurship, and Tourism, but was allocated the Housing and Urban Affairs department. He retained the Public Health Engineering department.

Tourism, along with Judicial department, was allocated to former Assam BJP chief Ranjeet Kumar Kumar Dass, who lost his Food & Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs department. He retained Panchayat & Rural Development and General Administration.

Senior minister Chandra Mohan Patowary retained Act East Policy Affairs and Environment & Forest departments, besides Parliamentary Affairs being added to his list. The Welfare of Minorities department was taken away from him in the reshuffle.

The Health and Family Welfare department was assigned to Ashok Singhal, who retained the Irrigation department, but had Housing and Urban Affairs department taken away.

Ranoj Pegu will continue to hold School Education, Higher Education and Tribal Affairs (Plain) departments. He did not retain the Indigenous & Tribal Faith and Culture (Directorates of Library and Museum) portfolio.

Jogen Mohan, who lost the Revenue and Disaster Management and Mines and Minerals departments, was given new responsibility of Transport, Cooperation and Indigenous and Tribal Faith & Culture Department (Directorate of Archaeology, and Directorate of Library and Museum) departments. He retained the Hill Areas department.

Bimal Bora retained Cultural Affairs and Industries, Commerce and Public Enterprise departments.

The second woman minister in the Assam cabinet, Nandita Garlosa, lost the Power department but retained Sports and Youth Welfare.

She has also been allocated Welfare of Minorities and Development department, besides assisting the CM in Public Works Buildings and National Highways Department, the notification added.

Sarma had expanded his cabinet on Saturday, reaching the maximum permissible limit of 19 ministers, including the chief minister.

According to the 91st amendment of the Constitution in 2003, the total number of ministers, including the chief minister, in a state should not exceed 15 per cent of the total number of members of the Legislative Assembly.

As the Assam assembly has a strength of 126 MLAs, a maximum of 19 ministers can function at a time.