Naveen selects new team
Reshuffles Council of Ministers
Bhubaneswar, June 5: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday effected a huge reshuffle in his council of minister sacking several and inducting new faces.
As many as 21 Ministers – 13 cabinet rank and 8 Ministers of State – were administered oath of office and secrecy by Governor Prof Ganeshi Lal at the Lok Seba Bhawan Hall here.
Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra conducted the ceremony.
The Cabinet Minister sworn in were Jagannath Saraka, Niranjan Pujari, Ranendra Pratap Swain, Pramila Mallick, Usha Devi, Prafulla Mallick, Pratap Keshari Deb, Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, Pradip Kumar Amat, Naba Kisore Das, Ashok Kumar Panda, Tukuni Sahu and Niranjan Pujari.
The Ministers of State (Independent Charge) who were sworn in were Samir Ranjan Dash, Ashwini Patra, Priti Ranjan Ghadei, Srikant Sahoo, Tusharkanti Behera, Rohit Pujari, Rita Sahu and Basanti Hembrem.
In the reshuffle Patnaik axed several ministers who were indisciplined, involved in controversies or did not perform.
Party sources said the selection was based on the criteria fixed by the Chief Minister after receipt of feedbacks from ground.
This was first reshuffle by Patnaik in three years since he assumed charge as Chief Minister for the fifth time in a row.
