Chief Minister Raghubar Das found himself in a tight spot when TAC members, mainly from the BJP questioned the Government for keeping one Cabinet berth vacant since it came to power in December 2015.
Sources present in the TAC meeting on Thursday told The Pioneer that some tribal legislators of the ruling BJP even termed the persistence of the Government to manage the affairs without filling up the Cabinet up to its sanctioned strength and keeping crucial departments unattended not in conformity with the Constitutional provisions.
“Article-164 of the Constitution clearly says that in the states of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa, there shall be a Minister in charge of tribal welfare who may in addition be in charge of the welfare of the Scheduled Castes and backward classes or any other work. The provision was read in the presence of the Advocate General in the TAC meeting to which he also nodded,” said a TAC member.
Since the formation of the Government, the Tribal Welfare Department has no separate Minister and is being run on adhoc basis. Also, out of 12 sanctioned seats in the Cabinet of the State only 11 ministers, including the Chief Minister are in place. “The Article also directs that the total number of Ministers, including the Chief Minister, in the Council of Ministers in a State shall not exceed fifteen per cent of the total number of members of the legislative Assembly of that State, provided that the number of Ministers, including the Chief Minister in a State shall not be less than twelve. The members expressed their concern over this,” said a senior official.
Giving an inside view, a member said that the Chief Minister was resistant to the idea initially. “When we raised the matter he said it was his prerogative. We then asked the AG who also affirmed that the Constitution has specific provision for this. Then, he said that louis Marandi is there. We said she is Welfare Minister and not Tribal Welfare Minister. The CM lastly indicated that he would consult further over this issue,” said the member.