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Vikramaditya Singh gets PWD, Rohit Thakur education as Himachal CM allocates portfolios
Cabinet including Vikramaditya Singh, Rohit Thakur and other had been announced earlier; Sukhu has retained finance, general administration, home, planning and personnel in portfolio allocation
Three days after chief minister (CM) Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu inducted seven ministers and appointed six parliamentary secretaries, he allocated portfolios to his cabinet colleagues, retaining five departments and an additional one that has so far not been allocated to anyone.
Sukhu has retained finance, general administration, home, planning and personnel.
The Jal Shakti Vibhag, transport and language art and culture departments, meanwhile, had already been allocated to deputy CM Mukesh Agnihotri.
Dhani Ram Shandil has been given charge of health and family welfare, social justice and empowerment as well as labour and employment, while Chander Kumar has been allocated agriculture, animal husbandry.
Harshwardhan Chauhan was given industries, parliamentary affairs, Ayush, Jagat Singh Negi revenue, horticulture and tribal development, Rohit Thakur higher elementary and technical education, industrial and vocational training. Anirudh Singh got rural development and panchayati raj, while Vikramaditya Singh was given charge of public works department and youth services and sports.
OPS, jobs take centre stage as cabinet meets on Jan 13
All eyes are set on the maiden cabinet meeting of chief minister (CM) Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led Congress government scheduled for January 13, with discussion over poll promises including restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), jobs for the youth and ₹1,500 allowance for women are expected to take centre stage.
Sukhu inducted seven ministers and six parliamentary secretaries three days ago, but allocation of portfolios is still pending. The CM has attached his close lieutenant and chief parliamentary secretary Sanjay Awasthi with the department of information and public relations, health and family welfare and public works department with him. No notification has been made for the other five chief parliamentary secretaries — Sunder Thakur, Ashish Butail, Kishori Lal and Mohan Lal Brakta.
Notably, Awasthi is close confidante of Sukhi and a second-time legislator from Arki
Congress had promised the restoration of the OPS for the employees in the first cabinet meeting. The promise was seen as one the major factors to have helped the party scale up its campaign against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The Congress party has previously implemented OPS after coming into power in Rajasthan and Chattisgarh, while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has also announced the same for Punjab. Resultantly, if the government was to go through with the move, Himachal will become the fourth state to have restored the scheme.
Sukhu himself has offered multiple assurances for the restoration of OPS in the first cabinet meeting.
Additionally, a decision to provide employment to one lakh youth from the state, make 300 units of electricity free are also expected to be taken up in the first cabinet meeting. Whether a decision to provide a ₹1,500 allowance to women aged between 18 to 60 years is taken in the meeting, however, remains unclear.
Blueprint for OPS ready: Govt chief secy
As for the OPS, administrative staff is said to have already engaged in preparations to chalk out a plan for its implementation. The government’s chief secretary, Prabodh Saxena said the blueprint for the move has already been prepared, while the finance department has also begun preparing for the first cabinet meeting.
Saxena’s team has prepared an agenda for the same and the state is expected to adopt the model of other Congress-ruled states for OPS’ restoration.
Addressing the issue, Employees’ Union state general secretary Bharat Sharma has welcomed the move, saying that they were mulling over carrying out a gratitude rally after the scheme’s restoration. T
Cabinet minister Harshvardhan Chauhan, meanwhile, also reaffirmed the restoration of OPS would take place in the first meeting. Noting that 13,000 employees retired between 2003 and 2013, he said the burden will not be all that significant to start with. He added that the expenses from ministers and officers’ end have to be cut; the chief minister has already begun announcing decisions to ensure the same.
The first cabinet meeting is also expected to see the government adopt the ten gauntness it announced ahead of the elections as part of its manifesto — which would be taken up as the policy document.
