TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: After the first Cabinet expansion, in which Goa Vikas Party MLA Francisco Mickky Pacheco and independent MLA Avertano Furtado were inducted into the Laxmikant Parsekar-led Cabinet on Saturday evening, the chief minister allotted portfolios to ministers. Though they were largely on expected lines there were a few surprises, with the main one being the divesting of the co-operatives portfolio from Pandurang Deepak Dhavalikar of the MGP and Rural Development from Avertano Furtado.
Avertano lost his portfolio to fellow Salcete MLA and newly inducted minister Pacheco. But Francis D’Souza, the deputy chief minister who had led the minor revolt and ultimately backed down was the major gainer with Health, TCP and Law portfolio that were held by the previous chief minister.
Earlier, both the ministers were administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Mridula Sinha at the Raj Bhavan, at Cabo. With the addition of the two ministers, the Cabinet strength has now gone up to 12 ministers.
Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, Goa ministers, MLAs of BJP and MGP were present at the swearing-in ceremony. Independent MLAs Benjamin Silva, Rohan Khaunte, Naresh Sawal and ministers’ families and well wishers were also present. The lone Congressman to attend the function was Dabolim MLA Mauvin Godinho.
While Avertano was the Fisheries Minister in the previous Manohar Parrikar-led Cabinet, Pacheco is a new induction during this term of the BJP. Pacheco was earlier Minister for Tourism in the Congress-led government in 2007-10. He had to step down after he was booked by police in connection with the death of his friend Nadia Torrado.
The Manohar Parrikar Cabinet was dissolved on November 8, after he resigned as chief minister to take up the position of Defence Minister. The Parsekar ministry was sworn in with 10 ministers including the chief minister, leaving two berths vacant.
Portfolios at a glance
u Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar :
Home, Mining, Finance, Education, Vigilance, Personnel, GRD, Housing, IT
u Dy Chief Minister Francis D’Souza:
TCP, Health Urban Development, Revenue, Law
u Ramakrishna Sudin Dhavalikar:
PWD, Transport, River Navigation, Non Conventional Energy
u Dayanand Mandrekar:
Panchayat, Water Resources, Civil Supplies & Price Control, Art & Culture
u Ramesh Tawadkar:
Agriculture, Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Services, Tribal Welfare, Sports & Youth Affairs
u Mahadev Naik:
Social Welfare, Industries, Handicrafts, Co-operation
u Dilip Parulekar:
Tourism, Women & Child Development, Protocol, Ports Administration
u Milind Naik:
Power, Information & Publicity, Legal Metrology and Official Language
u Pandurang alias Deepak Dhavalikar:
Factories & Boilers, Craftsman Training, Printing & Stationery
u Avertano Furtado:
Fisheries, Labour & Employment and NRI Affairs
u Alina Saldanha:
Forest, Environment and Museum
u Francisco Mickky Pacheco
Rural Development, Archives and Archeology
