CHANDIGARH: The Haryana Chief Minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, on Saturday expanded his 10-month-old ministry by inducting four Ministers, three of them belonging to the fairer sex, and appointing one chief Parliamentary Secretary and seven Parliamentary Secretaries, including two women. Now the total strength of the Congress Government is 13 and as per law, one more Minister can still be inducted.

The Governor, A.R. Kidwai, administered the oath of office and secrecy to the former Speaker, Harmohinder Singh Chatha, as Cabinet Minister while Kiran Chaudhary and Savitri Jindal, widows of the late Ministers, Surender Singh and O.P.Jindal, and Meena Rani took oath as Ministers of State with Independent charge. It may be recalled that the late Surender Singh and O.P.Jindal had lost their lives in an air crash on March 31 last year.

According to political observers here, Mr. Hooda has not only maintained political and regional balance but also sent a clear message that he sincerely believed in the empowerment of women. The Cabinet now has four women MLAs as Ministers in addition to two Parliamentary Secretaries. It may be recalled that Kartar Devi , who holds the Health portfolio, was inducted as a Cabinet Minister last year. The Congress has nine out of the 13 women MLAs in the Vidhan Sabha and this is the highest number of women elected to the Assembly ever since Haryana was created on November 1, 1966.

Observers also give credit to Mr. Hooda for righting a big wrong. The previous Chautala regime was an all male affair, they say. During the Assembly elections in 2005, the female voters of the State had voted for the Congress in overwhelming numbers. It is for the first time in the history of the States of the Indian Republic that women have been given representation in such a high number. Out of the 11 Congress women legislators, Mr. Hooda has given representation to more than 50 per cent of them thereby setting a new benchmark.

Caste considerations do matter in Haryana and these too have been taken care of. Interestingly, several veteran MLAs, including former Ministers, have not found berth as Mr. Hooda has preferred a younger and vibrant team, a wag remarked.

The Chief Minister also reshuffled the portfolios of his team. He himself will look after the Administration of Justice, Architecture, Co-operation, Development and Panchayats, Excise and Taxation, General Administration and Administrative Reforms, Home, Jail, Hospitality, Electronics and Information Technology, Legislative, Mines and Geology, Public Relations, Personnel and Training, Raj Bhawan Affairs, Technical Education, Town and Country Planning and Urban Estates.

The Deputy Chief Minister, Chander Mohan has been allocated Food and Supplies, Fisheries, Science and Technology and Renewable Energy.

The Excise and Taxation Minister, Vinod Sharma, has been given Power, Public Works (B and R) and Environment. The Finance Minister, Birender Singh will also look after Institutional Finance and Credit Control, Labour and Employment, besides Planning.

Mr. Chatha will look after Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Dairying besides Printing and Stationery.

Mrs. Kartar Devi will look after Health and Medical Education, Social Justice and Empowerment ,Women and Child Development, Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes.

Ajay Singh Yadav will continue to look after Revenue and Disaster Management Consolidation, Rehabilitation, Irrigation and Elections.

The Education Minister, Phool Chand Mullana, will look after Education and Languages and Sports and Youth Affairs. The Industries Minister, Lachhman Dass Arora, will handle Industries and Commerce and Industrial Training and Vocational Education.

The Transport Minister, Randeep Singh Surjewala, will continue to look after Transport and Civil Aviation, Public Health and Parliamentary Affairs.

Mrs.Kiran Chaudhary will look after Forests, Tourism and Cultural Affairs. Mrs. Savitri Jindal will be Minister for Urban Development and Housing. Mrs. Meena Rani has been entrusted Archeology and Museums and Archives. She will be attached with Mr. Hooda as Minister of State in the Department of Cooperation.

Mr. Hooda later administered oath of Chief Parliamentary Secretary to Dharambir, MLA from Badhra, and Parliamentary Secretaries to Dhillu Ram, Rao Dan Singh, Krishna Pandit, Param Vir Singh, Sharda Rathore, Ram Kishan and Anil Thakkar. They will assist the Chief Minister and the Ministers and be attached to them.

In an interesting development, the BJP has decided to challenge in court the appointment of the Chief Parliamentary Secretary and seven Parliamentary Secretaries in Haryana. The national convener of the BJP Legal Cell and former Chandigarh MP, Satya Pal Jain, said that a petition against the appointments would be filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court in a week or so.

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