Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Tuesday allocated portfolios to the new ministers, keeping 14 departments with himself and giving home affairs to deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and health to other deputy O P Soni.
Channi, who took oath as the chief minister on September 20, gave the local government, and parliamentary affairs departments to senior cabinet colleague Brahm Mohindra.
Some of the key departments which will be held by the chief minister are power, excise, mining and geology, environment, and civil aviation.
Randhawa will also hold the cooperation, and jails departments while Soni will look after the defence services welfare and freedom fighters department.
Another senior cabinet minister Manpreet Singh Badal gets the finance portfolio.
Several ministers, including Badal, who were a part of the previous Amarinder Singh-led cabinet, have retained their portfolios.
Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa will be the Rural and Panchayats, and Animal Husbandry, Fisheries and Dairy Development Minister.
Aruna Chaudhary got revenue, Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria got water resources, Razia Sultana will hold water supply and sanitation, and women and child development, and Bharat Bhushan Ashu was given food, civil supplies and consumer affairs departments.
Vijay Inder Singla will hold the Public Works Department, but the School Education Department he held earlier has been allotted to new entrant Pargat Singh, who will also be the new sports minister.
Among the other new entrants, Randeep Singh Nabha will hold the Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Department, Rana Gurjit Singh got technical education and industrial training, and horticulture departments, while Raj Kumar Verka will hold the social justice, empowerment and minorities, medical education and research departments.
Another new face Amarinder Singh Raja Warring will be the transport minister, Sangat Singh Gilzian will be the forests, wildlife, and labour minister while Gurkirat Singh Kotli will hold the industries, and commerce departments.
The chief minister will be in-charge of personnel, vigilance, general administration, justice, legal and legislative affairs, information and public relations, investment promotion, hospitality, power, tourism and cultural affairs departments.
The Congress had recently picked Channi as the leader of the state’s Congress Legislative Party.
Amarinder Singh had resigned as the chief minister, after being locked in a bitter power tussle with Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu.
Also read: Punjab Congress in a bigger mess as Sidhu quits as party chief, Amarinder says ‘I told you so’