Kolkata, May 11: Following the formation of the new government in West Bengal, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has announced the allocation of ministerial portfolios. Dilip Ghosh has been assigned the departments of Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, and Animal Husbandry, while Agnimitra Paul will oversee the Women and Child Welfare department. Ashok Kirtaniya has been given the Food department, and Khudiram Tudu will manage the Backward Classes Welfare department. Additionally, Nishith Pramanik has been entrusted with the North Bengal Development, Sports, and Youth Welfare departments.
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has retained the Home department under his purview.
The first meeting of the newly formed cabinet took place on Monday under the leadership of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. During this meeting, a decision was made to allocate land to the Border Security Force (BSF) within 45 days for erecting barbed wire along the currently unfenced international border with Bangladesh.
Regarding the decisions taken in the cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari stated that the promise to allocate land to the BSF within 45 days was part of the BJP’s manifesto, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had also announced it. After the meeting, the Chief Minister informed the media that this decision was approved in the first cabinet meeting.
Another significant decision passed during the meeting was the implementation of the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme, which is sponsored by the central government. The previous Trinamool Congress government had not implemented this scheme, arguing that the state’s own health insurance program, ‘Swasthya Sathi’, made the central scheme unnecessary.
The Chief Minister also mentioned that the cabinet has decided to initiate the process of including the state in several other central-sponsored schemes, including the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Kisan Bima Yojana, PM SHRI Yojana, Vishwakarma Yojana, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana, and the Ujjwala Yojana.
District magistrates have been instructed to send all applications to the central ministry as soon as possible. The Chief Minister assured that no existing welfare schemes initiated during the previous government would be discontinued.
Suvendu Adhikari emphasized that no ongoing social projects would be halted, although non-Indians or deceased individuals would not be eligible for benefits from these projects.