Lieutenant Governor Girish Chandra Murmu today allocated portfolios to his new Advisor Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar while keeping all portfolios held by his two previous Advisors–Kewal Kumar Sharma and Farooq Khan with them.
An order issued by the General Administration Department (GAD) tonight said Advisor Bhatnagar, who had recently retired as Director General of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), has been allocated Agriculture Production, Horticulture, Health and Medical Education, PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control, Transport, Animal and Sheep Husbandry Departments.
These Departments were held by the Lieutenant Governor.
Advisors Kewal Kumar Sharma and Farooq Khan retained their portfolios. However, Sharma got additional portfolio of Culture, which was also held by Murmu.
The portfolios of Sharma included Public Works (R&B), Power Development, Planning, Development and Monitoring, School, Higher and Technical Education, Industries and Commerce, Tourism and Culture while the Departments held by Farooq Khan are Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, ARI and Trainings, Cooperative, Floriculture, Election, Labour and Employment, Haj and Auqaf, Social Welfare, Tribal Affairs and Youth Services and Sports.
Prestigious Home and General Administration Departments have been retained by the Lieutenant Governor.
The GAD order read: “Papers related to the General Administration Department, Home Department and Anti-Corruption Bureau will be submitted by the concerned Administrative Secretaries through the Chief Secretary to the Lieutenant Governor”.
It added that papers pertaining to All India Services (IAS, IPS and IFS) will be submitted by the respective Administrative Secretaries through the GAD and the Chief Secretary for consideration of the Lieutenant Governor.
The order said papers pertaining to Housing and Urban Development, Information Technology, Science and Technology, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Estates, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Revenue, Forest, Ecology and Environment and Information will be submitted by the Administrative Secretaries to the Lieutenant Governor through the Chief Secretary.
However, the papers pertaining to Finance, Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction, Hospitality & Protocol and Civil Aviation will be submitted to the Lieutenant Governor through Financial Commissioner, Finance Department.