Puducherry govt allocates portfolios to CM Rangasamy, five ministers
The Puducherry government on Wednesday, Aug 6 allocated portfolios to Chief Minister N. Rangasamy and five ministers of the AINRC-BJP coalition, ending days of speculation after the formation of the new cabinet.
According to a notification published in the Puducherry Gazette, Rangasamy will retain key departments including Planning and Finance, Cooperation, Revenue and Excise, Health and Family Welfare, Local Administration, Transport, Science and Technology, Environment, Information and Publicity, Fire Service, Hindu Religious Institutions, Wakf Board, and all subjects not assigned to other ministers.
The six-member cabinet comprises four ministers from the All India N.R. Congress (AINRC), including the chief minister, and two from the BJP.
Senior BJP leader A. Namassivayam, the second-ranking minister in the cabinet, has been assigned Home, Electricity, Education, including Collegiate Education, Law, Animal Husbandry and Animal Welfare, and Forest and Wildlife. He held the Home, Electricity and Higher Education portfolios in the previous AINRC-BJP government.
AINRC minister Malladi Krishna Rao, who returned to the cabinet after a decade, has been given charge of Public Works, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Fisheries and Fishermen Welfare, Ports, Industries and Commerce, and Labour and Employment.
P. Rajavelu will oversee Adi Dravidar Welfare, Art and Culture, Housing, Information Technology, Economics and Statistics, and Stationery and Printing.
V.P. Sivakolundhu has been assigned Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Social Welfare, Backward Class Welfare, Women and Child Development, and Minority Affairs.
BJP minister G.N.S. Rajasekaran, a first-time cabinet entrant from the Karaikal region, will head Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Sports and Youth Affairs, the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), Community Development, Rural Development, and Sainik Welfare.
