Cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday, seven new districts soon: Mamata Banerjee

Kolkata, August 1

Rubbishing media reports about the possible dissolution of state Cabinet, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said that a reshuffle was on the cards, with four to five new faces expected to get inducted in the council of ministers.

Banerjee also said that several departments were currently functioning without any dedicated minister, and it wasn’t possible for her to shoulder responsibilities of these alone.

“We have to reshuffle our Cabinet. But (I) do not have any plan to dissolve the Cabinet and come up with a new one. There are several departments which has no one at the helm. I alone cannot shoulder (the) responsibilities of all these departments,” Banerjee told reporters.

“We will introduce four to five new faces in the Cabinet. The reshuffle will be carried out on Wednesday,” the chief minister added.

Departments of Panchayat, Public Health Engineering, Consumer Affairs & Self Help Group are currently looked after by Banerjee.

After Partha Chatterjee was relieved of his ministerial duties, following his recent arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the school job scam, portfolios held by him – industries and parliamentary affairs – were also taken over by the TMC boss.

Bengal to carve out seven new districts

West Bengal is set to get seven new districts with the Cabinet giving its nod to the proposal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Monday.

The new districts—Berhampore, Kandi, Sunderbans, Bashirhat, Ichamati, Ranaghat and Bishnupur—will take the total number to 30.

“The state cabinet okayed the proposal today,” Banerjee told reporters here.

“The decision was taken to ensure smooth administrative operations,” a senior official of the state government said.