Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti allocated
portfolios to her team of ministers overnight and told the ministers to
“perform or people will teach a lesson”.
Chairing her first cabinet meeting late on Monday night after she took over as the first woman Chief Minister of country’s only Muslim majority state, Mufti told her ministerial colleagues: “Perform or else the people will teach you a lesson.”
Also read: J&K Finally Gets a Government, Mehbooba Mufti Takes Oath as CM
Having already lost nearly three months in re-stitching an
alliance her late father Mufti Muhammad Sayeed had tailored by calling it ‘the
meeting of the north and the south’, Mufti settled down to administrative
business immediately after being sworn in on Monday.
The Ministers
Nirmal Singh (BJP), Deputy Chief Minister has been allotted
Power Development, Housing and Urban Department portfolios.
Abdul Rehman Bhat Veeri (PDP) is the new Minister for Roads
and Buildings and Parliamentary Affairs.
Haseeb Drabu (PDP) gets the all-important portfolio of
Finance, Planning and Culture.
Naeem Akhtar (PDP) has again been allotted the Education
portfolio.
Abdul Haq (PDP) gets Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and
Law.
Syed Basharat Bukhari (PDP) has been allotted Revenue,
Relief and Rehabilitation. During his 10-month stint as Education Minister, Akhtar was ‘blamed’ in a lighter vein for having pushed non-performing teachers to suffer from sleep disorders.
Bali Bhagat (BJP) gets Health and Medical Education.
Sajad Lone (Peoples Conference) gets the Social Welfare portfolio.
Choudhary Lal Singh (BJP) gets Forests,
Ecology and Environment.
Abdul Ghani Kohli (BJP) Animal Husbandry and
Veterinary Department.
All other departments including General Administration, Home, Tourism and those not allotted to any other minister will be handled by the Chief Minister herself.
(With IANS inputs)
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