Tamil Nadu   

Six more getting ready

S. Dorairaj

Tamil Nadu Secretariat building at Fort St. George in Chennai. — Photo: K. Gajendran

CHENNAI: The Minister's chambers at the Secretariat complex in Fort St. George are being spruced up as the State will have the largest Cabinet after 1991 with 31 Ministers to be headed by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president M. Karunanidhi.

As the outgoing Jayalalithaa Cabinet had only 25 Ministers, six more chambers are being readied in view of the size of the new Ministry.

Successive State Governments since 1947 had compact Cabinets though there was no ceiling on the size. Members of the Legislative Council too were accommodated until its abolition in 1986.

The Congress Ministry headed by O.P. Ramasamy in 1947 had 13 Ministers. There were 12 Ministers in the Kumarasamy Raja Cabinet in 1949.

He increased it to 13 in 1951. Rajaji headed a 15-member Cabinet in 1952.

When K. Kamaraj became Chief Minister in April 1954, his Cabinet had eight members. His second tenure also saw eight Ministers. In 1962, his Ministry had nine members. It became eight after Kamaraj quit the Cabinet, setting an example to others to follow his famous "K-Plan." M. Baktavatsalam succeeded him in 1963.

The first DMK Ministry headed by party founder C.N. Annadurai had nine Ministers. When Mr. Karunanidhi took over the reins in 1969, the number went up by five. He led a 17-member Ministry in 1971.

The strength of the first All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) Ministry led by M.G. Ramachandran in 1977 was 14. It became 27 in 1980 and 25 in 1985. The V.N.Janaki Ministry had eight Ministers in 1988.

Mr. Karunanidhi led an18-member Cabinet in 1989 and the number rose to 26 when he led his fourth Ministry in 1996.

But the State saw the largest Cabinet with 34 members in 1991 when Ms. Jayalalithaa became Chief Minister. But her second Ministry had 25 members.

The 91st Constitutional amendment has clearly laid down that the total number of Ministers, including the Chief Minister, in the Council of Ministers in a State shall not exceed 15 per cent of the total strength of the Assembly.

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