The three new ministers in the Haryana cabinet were allotted portfolios on Saturday even as Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who relinquished some of the departments under him, divested senior minister Abhimanyu Singh Sindhu of some key departments. The new ministers were alloted portfolios a day after the BJP government effected a cabinet reshuffle. Faridabad MLA Vipul Goel was inducted as a cabinet-rank minister on FridayF, while Rohtak MLA Manish Kumar Grover and Bawal MLA Banwari Lal got the Minister of State (MoS) rank with independent charge. On the Chief Minister's recommendations, Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki allotted portfolios amongst the members of the Council of Ministers with immediate effect, an official spokesman said here. In the exercise, the seniormost member in the Khattar cabinet, Finance Minister Abhimanyu, also a prominent Jat leader, was divested of the key portfolios of Industries and Commerce and Environment which went to Goel who also got charge of the Industrial Training department. Besides, the Labour and Employment department, also held by Abhimanyu, went to MoS Nayab Singh Saini with independent charge. Saini also got the Mines and Geology (attached to the Mines and Geology ministry) department. Other senior ministers, including Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma, Agriculture Minister Om Prakash Dhankar, Health Minister Anil Vij and Public Works (B&R) Minister Narbir Singh, retained their key portfolios. Grover was given the departments of Cooperation, Printing and Stationery (independent charge), besides Urban Local Bodies. Banwari Lal got Public Health Engineering (independent charge) and Renewable Energy (attached to the Chief Minister). To accommodate the new ministers, MoS, Public Health Engineering Ghanshyam Saraf and MoS, Cooperation Bikram Thekedar had earlier resigned from their posts. Khattar, who retained key portfolios of Home, Power, Town and Country Planning and a few others, gave up five departments which were alloted to others. These included Information, Public Relations and Cultural Affairs, Science and Technology, Mines and Geology and Jails and Architecture. The charge of the Science and Technology department was given to Health and Sports Minister Anil Vij who will continue to hold his earlier portfolios. The Mines and Geology department will now be handled by Agriculture Minister Dhankar. The Jails department was given to Transport Minister Krishan Lal Panwar. Information, Public Relations and Cultural Affairs will now be handled by Urban Local Bodies, Women and Child Development Minister Kavita Jain. The Architecture department will be under Public Works (B&R) Minister Narbir Singh. Jain has been divested of the Social Justice and Empowerment department which will now be handled independently by MoS, Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes Krishan Kumar Bedi. Khattar (62) effected the second expansion of his cabinet on Friday, exactly a year after the first expansion. He had taken oath as the first Chief Minister of a BJP government in Haryana on October 26, 2014.
