JAMMU, DECEMBER 13: In a major Cabinet reshuffle, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Dr Farooq abdullah today dropped seven ministers to reduce the size of his Cabinet to 21 ministers and re-allocated the portfolios in the downsized ministry.An official statement tonight said that in the interest of downsizing the government and reducing expenditure, the chief minister forwarded the resignations of seven of his Cabinet ministers and Ministers of State to Governor Girish Chander Saxena for acceptance.These included four Cabinet ministers Bodh Raj Bali (Industries and Commerce), Nissar Ahmed Khan (Agriculture and Horticulture), M S Tariq (School Education) and Molvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari (Housing and Urban Development).The three Ministers of State who have been dropped are Safdar Ali Beg, Govind Ram Sharma and Syed Abdul Rashid.The Governor has accepted the chief minister's recommendation and the portfolios of the ministers have been re-allocated, the statement said.Earlier on December 8, theGovernor had accepted the resignation of revenue minister Ali Mohammad Naik as recommended by the chief minister, bringing down the strength of the 29-member ministry by one.Naik, who won the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat in the recent parliamentary elections, was continuing as Revenue Minister in Jammu and Kashmir.
