West Bengal Chief Minister on Monday took charge of the Minority Affairs department ahead of the panchayat polls which is likely in a couple of months, a senior official said.
Mohammed Ghulam Rabbani, in-charge of the department, was shifted to the Horticulture department. The decision to this effect was taken at a cabinet meeting held during the day.
Banerjee will be assisted by Tajmul Hossain, Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Textiles. He was also named as the MoS for the Minority Affairs department, he said. The cabinet also gave a nod for the creation of separate development boards for minorities and migrant labourers.
"Earlier, there was a finance corporation for minorities. Today, the CM decided to create a Minority Development Board and a Migrant Labour Development Board," he said. The Minority Development Board will report to the Minority Affairs department, the state Law department will oversee the Migrant Labour Development Board, the official said.
Law Minister Moloy Ghatak was made the chairman of the Minority Development Board, he said, adding that nobody was chosen to look after the Minority Development Board so far. The state decided to grant its employees a maximum of Rs 53,000 as ad hoc bonus from the next financial year. It also decided to hike the festival allowance from Rs 14,000 to a maximum of Rs 16,000, the official added.
