Supporting 5 get imp. portfolios
SANDESH PRABHUDESAI, PANAJI | 04 June 2002 23:30 ISTThe five ministers supporting the newly installed Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition government in Goa have been allocated most influential portfolios by chief minister Manohar Parrikar.
All the 12 ministers - sworn in yesterday - were allocated one portfolio each by Parrikar today, after holding the first informal cabinet meeting and consulting them over the allocation.
The Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party's Sudin Dhawalikar will be the PWD minister while Pandurang Madkaikar will hold the transport. Similarly, United Goans Democratic Party's Mickky Pacheco is the tourism minister and Atansio Monseratte is being given the town and country planning.
Philip Neri Rodrigues, an independent and former tourism minister, has been allocated water resources ministry, which includes equally important irrigation department.
Parrikar's erstwhile senior ministers Digambar Kamat, Dr Suresh Amonkar and Manohar Azgaonkar will continue to hold power, health and panchayati raj respectively. However Ramarao Desai, another former BJP minister, will now hold industries.
Among the new, Francis D'Souza has been made the information technology minister whereas Vinay Tendulkar and Dayanand Mandrekar will hold ministries of forest and agriculture respectively.
Rest of the portfolios are expected to be allocated after the brief Assembly session.
The chief minister has also recommended to the governor to convene the three-day Assembly session on 12 June. It will begin with giving oath to all the 40 newly elected legislators as well as to elect the new speaker of the House.
While Governor Mohammed Fazal will address the House on 13 June, Parrikar plans to present a full-fledged budget on 14 June and subsequently take vote on account till August, as the financial transactions will otherwise come to a halt from 15 June.
Since the last Assembly was dissolved on 27 February without presenting the budget, the then BJP government had drawn funds from the contingency fund for the period of three months, pending elections of the new Assembly.
Parrikar also plans to propose unanimous elections of the speaker and the deputy speaker by offering the deputy's post to the opposition. "I will talk to opposition leader Pratapsing Rane in this regard", he told the journalists.
Regarding allocation of important portfolios to the newly entered inexperienced legislators, Parrikar said no minister demanded any specific portfolio, but their suggestions were taken into consideration.
"Though my cabinet has seven new faces, I am confident that they are capable of handling it", he said. Among the seven, three belonging to the MGP and the UGDP have even become the MLAs for the first time, except Dhawalikar.
