Odisha Cabinet set for minor reshuffle on Monday

The Odisha Cabinet led by chief minister Naveen Patnaik is set for a minor reshuffle on Monday with at least three ministers likely to take oath, people familiar with the matter said.

Last week, Speaker Bikram Keshari Arukha, school and mass education minister Samir Ranjan Dash, and labour minister Srikant Sahu had tendered their resignation. Arukha, who was appointed Speaker in June last year, resigned from his post citing personal reasons but added that he is open to joining the ministry. Sahu and Dash had to resign after getting embroiled in a case of sexual exploitation of a woman Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader and suicide of a party zilla parishad member, respectively.

Revenue minister Pramila Mallick has been given the additional charge of School and Mass Education and Labour departments by the chief minister. The CM had earlier allocated the additional charge of Health and Family Welfare department to finance minister Niranjan Pujari following the murder of Das on January 29.

Official sources said the new ministers are likely to take oath at 9.30am on Monday at the convention hall of the Lok Seva Bhawan in Bhubaneswar. At present, three ministerial berths are lying vacant in the state Cabinet.

Governor, Professor Ganeshi Lal, who is in Haryana now, is scheduled to return to Odisha on Sunday after cutting short his visit.

Among the faces that may be inducted are Dipali Das, newly-elected MLA of Jharsuguda and daughter of slain BJD minister Naba Das. The names of Susanta Singh and Sarada Nayak from western Odisha are in the race too. Senior MLAs like Debi Mishra, Prasanta Muduli and Umakanta Samantaray are also among those in the race for a ministerial berth.