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New faces in Cabinet in New Year

Clean image persons to get priority: Obaidul Quader


Published : 22 Dec 2019 09:51 PM | Updated : 07 Sep 2020 11:48 AM

TheCabinet, led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, is likely to include new faces in it through a reshuffle at the beginning of the New Year, 2020, apparently to infuse dynamism into government activities.

Obaidul Quader, Road Transport and Bridges Minister came up with this statement while exchanging greetings with the reporters at his Secretariat office on Sunday.

“The high command may come up with a surprise by inducting new faces into the Cabinet, likely to be taken place in January next,” said Obaidul Quader who has been reelected as Awami League General Secretary on Saturday for the second time.

He termed the Cabinet reshuffle as a routine work, saying some new faces with clean images are likely to be inducted to the Cabinet to present the country a new leadership.

Earlier on January 7 Sheikh Hasina, the Awami League President and elder daughter of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman formed the government for the third consecutive term as she took oath as the prime minister for fourth term with 47-member council of ministers.

The new council of ministers — including 24 ministers, 19 state ministers and three deputy ministers — took oath on the day.

The Awami League-led Grand Alliance achieved landslide victory in the 11th Jatiya Sangsad election on December 30, 2018. 

Over 20 new faces have been inducted into the council of ministers. The 24 ministers are: Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader, Agriculture Minister Dr MdAbdur Razzak, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, Information Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anisul Haque, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Md Tajul Islam, Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni, Foreign Affairs Minister AK Abdul Momen, Planning Minister MA Mannan, Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun, Textiles and Jute Minister Golam Dastagir Gazi, Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque, Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder,  Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi, Social Welfare Minister Nuruzzaman Ahmed, Housing and Public Works Minister SM Rezaul Karim, Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Md Shahab Uddin, CHT Affairs Minister Bir Bahadur Ushwe Sing, Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, Railways Minister Md Nurul Islam Sujon, Science and Technology Affairs Minister Architect Yeafesh Osman and Posts, Telecommunication and Information Technology Minister Mostafa Jabbar.

The 19 state ministers are: Kamal Ahmed Majumder for Industries, Imran Ahmed for Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment, Zahid Ahsan Russell for Youth and Sports, Nasrul Hamid for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, Md Ashraf Ali Khan Khasru for Fisheries and Livestock, Begum Munnujan Sufian for Labour and Employment, Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury for Shipping, Md Zakir Hossain for Primary and Mass Education, Md Shahriar Alam for Foreign Affairs, Junaid Ahmed Palak for ICT Division, Farhad Hossain for Public Administration, Swapan Bhattacharya for LGRD and Cooperatives, Zahid Faruque for Water Resources, Md Murad Hasan for Health and Family Welfare, Sharif Ahmed for Social Welfare, KM Khalid for Cultural Affairs, Dr Md Enamur Rahman for Disaster Management and Relief, Md Mahbub Ali for Civil Aviation and Tourism and Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah for Religious Affairs.

Three deputy ministers are: Begum Habibun Nahar for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, AKM Enamul Haque Shamim for Water Resources and Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury for Education.

Later on July 12 Sheikh Hasina’s cabinet witnessed a minor reshuffle a State Minister for Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Imran Ahmed was sworn in as a full minister while ruling Awami League Women Affairs Secretary Fazilatunnesa Indira as a state minister.