Raman inducts 5 tribals in 11-member ministry

Twelve ministers, including five tribals, led by chief minister Raman Singh were administered the oath of office and secrecy by Chhattisgarh governor ESL Narasimhan in Raipur on Monday.

The ministers are Nankiram Kanwar, Brijmohan Agrawal, Rajesh Munnat, Ramvichar Netam, Punnulal Mohile, Chandrashekhar Sahu, Amar Agrawal, Vikram Usendi, Hemchand Yadav, Kedar Kashyap, and Lata Usendi.

Singh told reporters that the number of departments in the state is more than the number of ministers in his team and that is why all of them were given cabinet rank.

By law, the council of ministers in any state can have a strength of only 15 per cent of the total strength of the state assembly. Chhattisgarh's assembly has 91 seats. The state can have one more minister, but Singh has left the slot vacant for now.

There are only two new faces in the ministry: Punnulal Mohile and Chandrashekhar Sahu, both of whom are former members of Parliament.

Dharamlal Kaushik, MLA from Bilha, will be the speaker of the new state assembly.

The caste-wise classification of the ministers is tribals (5), Aja (1), general category (4), and backward classes (2).