Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday inducted three new faces into the cabinet with two ministers elevated to the rank of full minister.
In the first major reshuffle State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and State Minister for Science and Technology Yafes Osman were sworn in as ministers of the cabinet.
Of the three new faces, Chittagong Awami League leader and a 2008 lawmaker from Chittagong Nurul Islam BSC took oath as minister for the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment.
Noted TV actress Tarana Halim made her way into the cabinet as State Minister for Post and Telecommunication.
Lalmonirhat MP Md Nuruzzaman Ahmed got the portfolio of State Minister for the Food Ministry.
Moreover, the Cabinet Division and the ruling Awami League sources told the Dhaka Tribune that another reshuffle may take place in the cabinet in which some ministers will be dropped.
The reshuffle in the cabinet came around one year and six months after Sheikh Hasina formed a 49-member cabinet on January 12 following the January 5 national election.
With yesterday’s shake-up, the number of cabinet members stood at 52.
President Abdul Hamid administered the swearing-in of the new ministers and state ministers at Bangabhaban yesterday evening.
Cabinet Secretary Muhammad Musharraf Hossain moderated the ceremony.
“I have got more responsibility as minister for the Home Affairs,” said Assaduzzaman Khan Kamal at his office before he took the oath.
He also thanked Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for his elevation to the full cabinet rank yesterday.
On July 7, Sheikh Hasina removed Syed Ashraful Islam from the LGRD Ministry and made him a minister without portfolio.
Later, the prime minister handed over the charge of the LGRD Ministry to Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain who will now be replaced by Nurul Islam BSC.
Last year the then science and information technology minister Abdul Latif Siddique lost his cabinet portfolio when the prime minister removed him for his controversial remarks on religion. Over the past few days rumour had been flying around that there would be big changes in the cabinet. However, the existing ministers or state ministers did not lose their portfolios in the reshuffle.
The prime minister might dismiss Disaster Management and Relief Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya for corruption scandal and Food Minister Quamrul Islam for importing sub-standard wheat from Brazil, a ruling party leader said.
