Kolkata, May 10

At least 43 members of the third cabinet of the Mamata Banerjee government were on Monday sworn in as ministers during a low-key ceremony at the Raj Bhawan, amid the raging pandemic.

Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar administered the oath of office and secrecy to the ministers. Three TMC leaders Amit Mitra, Bratya Basu, and Rathin Ghosh were sworn in virtually. Mitra is unwell and both Basu and Ghosh are recuperating from Covid. Those who were sworn in include 24 Cabinet ministers and 10 ministers of state (independent charge). Eight women were sworn in, and with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the total number of women has increased to nine.

The portfolios were decided at the first Cabinet meeting of the government at the state secretariat. The Chief Minister retained the portfolios of Home and Hill Affairs, Personnel and Administration, Health and Family Welfare, Land and Land Reforms and Refugee and Rehabilitation, Information and Cultural Affairs, and North Bengal Development. Almost all senior ministers in the previous administration, including Amit Mitra, Subrata Mukherjee, Firhad Hakim and Partha Chatterjee, have been retained.

While most of the ministers retained their old portfolios, among those who were given new charge included Partha Chatterjee, who was made Minister for Industry, Commerce, and Enterprise as well as Information Technology and Electronics and Parliamentary Affairs.

Chatterjee who was the Industry Minister in the first term of the TMC government had been removed from the charge to replace Bratya Basu as the Education Minister.

Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay was given the Agriculture portfolio, while Aroop Biswas, who will continue as the Sports Minister, will be in charge of the Power Department.

New faces Manas Bhunia, Bankim Hazra and Biplab Mitra will be Ministers for Water Resources Investigation and Development, Sunderbans Affairs, and Agricultural Marketing Departments, respectively. Another newcomer in the Cabinet, Pulak Roy was made Minister for the PHE Department. Chandranath Sinha was given charge of the MSME and Textiles Department.

While Pulak Roy was made Minister for the PHE Department, Swapan Debnath was given the portfolio of the Animal Resources Development Department. Senior leader Subrata Mukherjee was retained as the Minister for Panchayat and Rural Development, Public Enterprises and Industrial Reconstruction Department and veteran Amit Mitra will continue as the states Finance Minister.

Shashi Panja, who is the only woman among the eight women ministers to get a Cabinet rank, will continue as the Women and Child Development and Social Welfare Minister. — PTI

Suvendu is loP

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Ex-cricketer in team

Former cricketer Manoj Tiwari, BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari’s detractor Akhil Giri, senior leader Biplab Mitra and former IPS officer Humayun Kabir are among the 16 new faces