Last Update: 13 August 2022, 12:54 IST
CM Eknath Shinde (left) and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis (right). (File photo/PTI)
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde expanded his two-member ministry on Tuesday, 41 days after taking oath as the CM.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Saturday that portfolios would be allotted to newly appointed ministers in the state soon. He also assured that the government would soon release compensation for the loss of crops to the farmers of the state due to heavy rains. Speaking to reporters at the airport in Nagpur, Fadnavis congratulated Chandrashekhar Bawankule on his appointment as the Maharashtra unit president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Responding to a question, he said, “Portfolios will be allotted to the new ministers soon.” Chief Minister Eknath Shinde expanded his two-member ministry on Tuesday, 41 days after taking oath as the CM. He inducted 18 ministers – nine each from his rebel Shiv Sena group and the BJP. With this, the strength of the Maharashtra ministry now stands at 20, which is less than half of the maximum permitted strength of 43.
Shinde was sworn in as the Chief Minister on June 30, when Fadnavis took oath as the Deputy CM. The Deputy Chief Minister said that the crop loss compensation announced by the government for the farmers would be disbursed soon and added that the area of crop loss was still increasing. “Compensation will be released soon after calculating the damages from all these affected areas,” he said.
The Maharashtra government on Wednesday decided to double the amount of compensation to farmers affected by excessive rains in July. “As per the existing NDRF (National Disaster Response Fund) norms, a farmer gets Rs 6,800 per hectare as compensation. We have decided to double the amount,” CM Shinde had told reporters after the cabinet meeting on Wednesday. Talking about Bawankule, Fadnavis said that he has been a very staunch BJP worker who rose from the bottom rung and held various important positions in the organisation.
“Bawankule performed extremely well in all the responsibilities given to him by the party,” the deputy CM said.
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