Odisha : 21 Ministers take oath in a major Cabinet reshuffle by CM Naveen Patnaik

By B.Maharana

Bhubaneswar, June 05

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik constituted his new Council of Ministers by inducting 21 ministers on Sunday. All his Council of Ministers had tendered their resignations Saturday following the direction of Patnaik, who is also the Biju Janata Dal Supremo.

A total of 21 Ministers, including 13 Cabinet and 8 Minister of State (Independent charge), took oath in the Naveen Patnaik-led state council of ministers. The swearing-in ceremony took place in the new convention centre of Lok Seva Bhawan in Bhubaneswar.

Governor Prof.Ganeshi Lal administered the oath of office to the new Ministers in presence of Chief Minister Patnaik.

Five women MLAs were inducted in the council of ministers, including three as Cabinet Ministers. In the last cabinet, only two women were part of the council of ministers.

The newly-inducted women cabinet ministers are Pramila Mallik, Usha Devi and Tukuni Sahu.

Jagannath Saraka, Niranjan Pujari, Ranendra Pratap Swain, Prafulla Kumar Mallik, Pratap Keshari Deb and Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak are among Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLAs who took oath as new cabinet ministers. Further, Pradip Kumar Amat, Naba Kisore Das, Ashok Chandra Panda and Rajendra Dholakia were also administered oath of office and secrecy by Governor Ganeshi Lal at the ceremony.

The MLAs who were inducted as Minister of State (Independent charge) include Samir Ranjan Dash, Aswini Kumar Patra, Pritiranjan Gharai, Srikanta Sahu, Tusharkanti Behera, Rohit Pujari, Rita Sahu and Basanti Hembram.

The Naveen Patnaik government has completed three years of its fifth consecutive term as the Chief Minister of Odisha on May 29.This is the first major reshuffle in the Council of Ministers in three years.

After the reshuffle , Chief Minister distributed portfolios to the new ministers.

Here’s the full list of Naveen’s new Council of Ministers, as released by the Raj Bhavan:

Cabinet Ministers:

1. Jagannath Saraka – SC & ST Development, Minorities & Backward Classes
2. Niranjan Pujari – Finance, Parliamentary Affairs
3. Ranendra Pratap Swain – Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment, Fisheries & Animal Resources Development
4. Pradip Kumar Amat – Forest & Environment, Panchayati Raj & Drinking Water, Information & Public Relations
5. Pramila Mallick – Revenue & Disaster Management
6. Usha Devi – Housing & Urban Development
7. Prafulla Mallick – Steel & Mines, Works
8. Pratap Keshari Deb – Industries, Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Energy
9. Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak – Food Supplies & Consumer Welfare, Cooperation
10. Naba Kisore Das – Health & Family Welfare
11. Tukuni Sahu – Water Resources, Commerce & Transport
12. Ashok Kumar Panda – Science & Technology, Public Enterprises, Social Security & Empowerment of PwDs
13. Rajendra Dholakia – Planning & Convergence

Ministers of State (Independent Charge)

1. Samir Ranjan Dash – School and Mass Education
2. Ashwini Patra – Tourism, Odia Language, Literature & Culture, Excise
3. Priti Ranjan Ghadei – Rural Development, Skill Development & Technical Education
4. Srikant Sahoo – Labour & Employees’ State Insurance
5. Tusharkanti Behera – Electronics & IT, Sports & Youth Affairs
6. Rohit Pujari – Higher Education
7. Rita Sahu – Handlooms, Textiles & Handicrafts
8. Basanti Hembrem – Women & Child Development and Mission Shakti

Ministers of State:

1. Tusharkanti Behera- Home