A day after Arvind Kejriwal was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Delhi for the third time, some of the portfolios in the Delhi cabinet were allocated on February 17.
While Kejriwal himself will not be taking charge of any department, according to reports, Satyendra Kumar Jain will head the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) while Gopal Rai will head the environment department, according to CNN News18.
Along with Jain and Rai, Manish Sisodia, Imran Hussain, Rajendra Pal Gautam and Kailash Gahlot also took oath on February 16. Let’s take a look at who they are, and their contribution during the previous AAP dispensation.
Satyendra Jain
He had also been reportedly instrumental in expanding mohalla clinic facilities in the national capital. According to news agency PTI, Jain, along with Kejriwal had jointly inaugurated 152 mohalla clinics in January 2020, taking their total number to 450.
Gopal Rai
Rai, a legislator from Babarpur, was the Labour minister and had been credited with raising the minimum wages in Delhi to almost double of what it was, according to reports. A postgraduate in Sociology, Rai reportedly started his career with the All India Students Association (AISA), the student body of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist).
Manish Sisodia
Sisodia, the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, has been credited with bringing about improvement in Delhi’s education sector in his capacity as the education minister. He also headed other departments, including Finance, Tourism, Women and Child Affairs and Vigilance.
Rajendra Pal Gautam
Rajendra Pal Gautam, who has been given the Women and Child Development Department, has been known for eradicating the practise of manual scavenging from Delhi, according to news agency IANS. He is the party’s legislator from Seemapuri and was responsible for the Social welfare, SC and ST, Cooperative and Gurudwara Elections departments earlier.
Kailash Gahlot
Gahlot has held key portfolios such as transport, revenue, environment in the previous AAP government. In his last term, he had played a vital role in implementing free travel scheme for women in public transport buses and free pilgrimage to senior citizens.
Under his leadership, several buses were procured under the Cluster scheme to strengthen the public transport, but it was not sufficient.
Imran Hussain
Hussain, a legislator from Ballimaran, headed the Food and Supply and Elections Department during the previous AAP government. According to news agency IANS, Hussain was instrumental in making Euro VI standards for vehicular emissions mandatory from 2017.
Criticism has come from certain quarters for the complete lack of women ministers in the AAP cabinet. In total, eight women candidates won the Delhi elections, all belonging to AAP.
