Four New Ministers, Two State Ministers Get Portfolios

The government has allocated portfolios to four newly appointed ministers and two state ministers who joined the cabinet on Friday.

Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan has been given charge of the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives, while Andaleeve Rahman Partho has been appointed Information and Broadcasting Minister.

Rashiduzzaman Millat has been assigned the Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry, while Saching Prue has been appointed Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs Minister.

Meanwhile, former Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Afroza Khanam has been given charge of the Food Ministry.

Prime Minister’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Humaiun Kobir has been appointed State Minister for Foreign Affairs, while Gaibandha-4 lawmaker Mohammad Shamim Kaiser Lincoln has been made State Minister for Religious Affairs.

The portfolios were allocated late Friday night following their oath-taking ceremony at Bangabhaban.

President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir administered the oath to the new ministers and state ministers at the Darbar Hall of Bangabhaban at 7:45pm. Cabinet Secretary Nasimul Gani conducted the ceremony.

The appointments marked the first expansion of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s cabinet since the government was formed in February.

Tarique Rahman took oath as prime minister on February 17 after his party won the February 12 parliamentary election.

He initially formed a 49-member cabinet, including the prime minister, with 25 ministers and 23 state ministers taking oath on the same day.

Following the latest appointments, the Council of Ministers now has 52 members, comprising 27 ministers and 24 state ministers.