If the occupations mentioned in their affidavits are something to go by, a majority of the ministers in the new cabinet are businessmen by profession.
As many as 22 members the newly formed47-strong council of ministers are businessmen. There are eight cabinet members who pursue law and eight others who pursue farming as careers. There are a number of doctors, ex-bureaucrats, teachers, and a journalist too.
There were 21 businessmen in the last cabinet formed after the 10th parliamentary polls.
Of the 22 businessmen in the new council of ministers, nineare ministers, 12 state ministers and one deputy minister.
Businessmen:
Minister: Mohammad Hasan Mahmud (Information), Md Tajul Islam (Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives), Golam Dastagir Gazi (Textile and Jute), Sadhan Chandra Majumder (Food), Tipu Munshi (Commerce), Md Shahab Uddin (Environment Forest and Climate Change), Bir Bahadur Ushwe Sing (CHT Affairs), and Saifuzzaman Chowdhury (Land).
State Minister: Kamal Ahmed Majumder (Industry),Imran Ahmed(Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment), Md Zahid Ahsan Russel (Youth and Sports), Nasrul Hamid (Power, Energy and Mineral Resources), Md Ashraf Ali Khan Kashru (Fisheries and Livestock), Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury (Shipping),Md Zakir Hossain(Primary and Mass Education), Shahriar Alam (Foreign Affairs), Shawpan Bhattacharjee (LGRD & Cooperatives), Jahid Faruk (Water Resource),Sharif Ahmed (Social Welfare), and KM Khalid (Cultural Affairs).
Deputy Minister: AKM Enamul Haque Shamim (Water Resources).
Lawyers:
Compared to 10 lawyers in the last cabinet, the newly formed cabinet has eight. Of them, five are ministers, two state ministers and one deputy minister.
Minister: Anisul Haq (Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs), Dr Dipu Moni (Education), Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun (Industries), SM Rezaul Karim (Housing and Public Works), Md Nurul Islam Sujan (Railways).
State Minister: Junaid Ahmed Palak (Information and Communication Technology),Md Mahbub Ali (Civil Aviation and Tourism).
Deputy Minister: Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury (Education).
Others:
Further, there are eight ministers involved in farming, three of them are doctors, two former bureaucrats, two of them teachers, and one each chartered accountant, journalist and social worker.
Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder, State Minister for Industries Kamal Ahmed Majumder, State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, State Minister for Primary and Mass EducationMd. Zakir Hossain mentioned their occupations in the affidavit as business along with agriculture.
As Science and Technology Minister Yeafesh Osman, Post, Telecommunications and Information Technology Minister Mustafa Jabbar and State Minister for Religious Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah were inducted in the cabinet as technocrats,no affidavits were available and the Dhaka Tribune could not verifyinformation regarding their occupation.
