Odisha New Cabinet: Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik divided the departments of the new cabinet, see who got which department

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik reconstituted his cabinet on Sunday. In this, 13 MLAs were given a place in the cabinet. While eight others were sworn in as Ministers of State (Independent Charge). There are 12 new faces in the new cabinet and five are women. Three of the five women – Pramila Mallick, Usha Devi and Tukuni Sahu – have been given the status of cabinet ministers. Apart from this, Scheduled Castes, Tribes and Other Backward Classes have also been given a place in the cabinet. On the other hand, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, hours after taking oath, distributed portfolios to 21 MLAs. Patnaik has kept the charge of Home, General Administration and Pension and Public Grievances Department with him.

Governor Ganeshi Lal administered the oath of office and secrecy to the legislators as ministers at a ceremony held at the new convention center of Lokseva Bhawan, Bhubaneswar. BJD MLAs Jagannath Sarka, Niranjan Pujari and R. P. Swain included. All 20 ministers had resigned on Saturday. After this the cabinet was reconstituted. This is the first time that Patnaik has given place to 21 ministers in his cabinet. As per the recommendations of the Sarkaria Commission, Odisha can have a maximum of 22 ministers, including the Chief Minister.

Patnaik reappeared nine as ministers
The cabinet has been reconstituted days after Naveen Patnaik completed three years of his fifth term as chief minister. The ministers whose portfolios were retained before their resignations include Jagannath Sarka, Niranjan Pujari, Prafulla Kumar Malik, TK Behera and Ashok Chandra Panda. Saraka will continue to handle the ST-SC Development and Minorities and Backward Classes Welfare Department with additional charge of Law Department, while Pujari has been reappointed as the Finance Minister.

Health and Family Welfare Department nearby NK Das
At the same time, Malik will continue to hold the charge of Steel and Mines and Construction Department, NK Das with Health and Family Welfare Department and Panda with Science and Technology, Public Enterprises and Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities. At the same time, Behera will take charge of the Department of Electronics and Information Technology along with Sports. Cabinet minister RP Swain, who earlier held the food supply portfolio, has been given the charge of agriculture and farmer empowerment, fisheries and animal resource development.

Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Department with Cooperative to Atanu S Nayak
Former Health Minister Atanu S Nayak has been allotted Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Department along with Cooperation Department, while PK Deb has been given Industries, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Energy portfolios. Similarly, Pramila Malik has been given the command of Revenue and Disaster Management Department, Usha Devi has been given the command of Housing and Urban Development Department and Tukuni Sahu has been given the command of Water Resources, Commerce and Transport Department.

Rohit Pujari will handle higher education department
Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader Rohit Pujari will handle the higher education portfolio, while Basanti Hembram has been allotted women and child development and Mission Shakti departments. Among the Ministers of State with independent charge, Sameer Ranjan Das will continue his work in the Department of School and Mass Education. At the same time, Ashwini Kumar Patra will be the Minister of State in the Departments of Tourism, Oriya Language, Literature and Culture and Excise. JD sources said keeping in mind the 2024 Lok Sabha and state assembly elections, fresh and comparatively young faces have been made ministers.