Patna: After the recent expansion of his cabinet, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has allocated portfolios to the ministers of the NDA government. Kumar himself retained the Home and General Administration departments, while Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary has been entrusted with the Finance and Commercial department portfolios. Another Deputy Chief Minister, Vijay Sinha of the BJP, has been assigned the Road Construction, Mines and Geology, and Art, Culture & Youth departments, as per a notification issued by the Cabinet Secretariat department.
Kumar expanded his cabinet, which is less than two months old, by inducting 21 new ministers. With this addition, the Nitish Kumar ministry now comprises 30 members, just six short of the constitutional limit of 36 for the state. According to the notification, Kumar has also retained key departments such as cabinet secretariat, election, vigilance, general administration, and "all other portfolios not allocated to anyone else." Prem Kumar of the BJP has been allocated the Cooperative and Environment, Forest, and Climate Change departments.
Bijendra Prasad Yadav, a trusted lieutenant of Nitish Kumar, has been assigned the Energy and Planning & Development departments. Senior JD (U) leader Vijay Kumar Chaudhary will oversee the Water Resources and Parliamentary Affairs departments, while JD(U)'s Shrawan Kumar has been entrusted with the Rural Development department. Hindustan Awam Morcha (HAM) leader Santosh Kumar Suman has been assigned the Information Technology, Minor Water Resources, and Disaster Management departments. Independent MLA Sumit Kumar Singh has been given the portfolio of the Science and Technology department.
Senior BJP leader Renu Devi has been tasked with the Animal & Fisheries Resources department. Other ministerial portfolios include: Mangal Pandey (Health and Agriculture), Neeraj Kumar Singh (Public Health Engineering Department), Ashok Choudhary (Rural Works), Lesi Singh (Food and Consumer Protection), Madan Sahni (Social Welfare), Nitish Mishra (Industry and Tourism), Nitin Nabin (Urban Development & Housing and Law), Dilip Kuma Jaiswal (Revenue and Land Reforms), Maheshwar Hazari (Information & Public Relations department), Sheila Kumari (Transport), Sunil Kumar (Education), Janak Ram (SC & ST Welfare), Hari Sahni (BC & EBC Welfare), and Jayant Raj (Building Construction).
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