Fifteen new Rajasthan ministers will take oath at 4 pm on Sunday at the Raj Bhavan here as part of the Cabinet reshuffle, officials said. The ministers include 11 Cabinet ministers and four ministers of state (MoS). The new Rajasthan cabinet will see 12 new faces, including five from the Sachin Pilot camp, in the […]

Jaipur Nov 21 PTI Fifteen new Rajasthan ministers will take oath at 4 pm on Sunday at the Raj Bhavan here as part of the Cabinet reshuffle officials said The ministers include 11 Cabinet ministers and four ministers of state MoS The new Rajasthan cabinet will see 12 new faces including five from the Sachin Pilot camp in the reshuffle on Sunday This is the first cabinet reshuffle of the Gehlot government which came to power in December 2018 Three ministers -- Govind Singh Dotasra Harish Chaudhary and Raghu Sharma -- have been dropped and their resignations have been accepted by the governor on recommendation of the chief minister while three ministers -- Mamta Bhupesh Tikaram Jully and Bhajan Lal Jatav-- will be elevated from MoS to cabinet rank While Dotasra Chaudhary and Sharma resigned on Friday other ministers resigned in a meeting of council of ministers on Saturday The resignation of Sharma Chaudhary and Dotasra was accepted as they hold party positions and the one man one post formula has been applied in the state Sharma has been appointed as the All India Congress Committee AICC in-charge for Gujarat and Chaudhary as the AICC in-charge for Punjab Dotasra is the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee PCC chief The Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government will have a total of 30 ministers including 18 who had resigned earlier Rajasthan can have a maximum of 30 ministers including the chief minister Three ministers of state -- those have been elevated to cabinet rank -- are from the Scheduled Caste SC community party sources said The new state cabinet will have four SC members and three ministers from the Scheduled Tribe ST community the sources said adding that the cabinet will also feature three women -- a Muslim one from the SC community and a Gujjar Among the new ministers to take oath as cabinet ministers are Hemaram Chaudhary Mahendrajit Singh Malviya Ramlal Jat Mahesh Joshi Vishvendra Singh Ramesh Meena Mamta Bhupesh Bhairwa Bhajanlal Jatav Tikaram Juli Govind Ram Meghwal and Shakuntala Rawat Those who will take oath as the new ministers of state are Zahida Brijendra Singh Ola Rajendra Durha and Muralilal Meena Mahesh Joshi is the government chief whip Among those from the Sachin Pilot camp who have been included in the ministry are Vishvendra Singh Ramesh Meena and Hemaram Chaudhary as cabinet ministers and Brijendra Ola and Murari Meena as ministers of state Two of them -- Vishvendra Singh and Ramesh Meena -- were sacked as cabinet ministers during a political crisis in the state last year Another SC member former MP Govind Ram Meghwal is a fresh face to be included in the refurbished cabinet Rajendra Singh Guda one of the six MLAs who defected from the BSP to the Congress has also been included as a minister of state No independent MLA has been given a ministerial berth while some of them would be included as parliamentary secretaries Some former BSP legislators would also be included as parliamentary secretaries the sources said adding that some senior MLAs would be made advisers to the chief minister After the Congress won bypolls held on two assembly seats recently the tally of the ruling party has reached to 108 in the house of 200 PTI SDA AQS AQS

Guwahati Sep 26 PTI Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday held separate discussions with representatives of Tai-Ahom and Matak communities on their demand for being accorded the Scheduled Tribe ST status according to an official statementSarma asked Tai-Ahom leaders to hold talks with the All Assam Tribal Sangha AATS the apex tribal body of the state in connection with their demand The AATS is authorised by the government to recommend issuance of ST certificates in the state On the demand for ST status by the Matak community Sarma informed them that the state government has agreed in principle to recommend to the Centre its inclusion in the list of Scheduled Tribes the statement said Besides Tai-Ahom and Matak tea tribes Adivasis Koch-Rajbonshi Moran and Chutia communities have also been demanding ST status Representatives of Moran and Chutia communities had met the chief minister at separate meetings on Saturday At the meeting with Tai-Ahom organisations Sarma urged them to sit together with AATS members to sort out issues for moving forward according to the statement It however did not mention the issues that need to be sorted out The chief minister said Tai-Ahoms will be accorded protected class status in tribal blocks and belts of the state while a Tai Language Teaching Centre would be set up by the state government to popularise it and a statue of his will be built at the state secretariat Janata Bhawan in GuwahatiThe Sukapha Samannay Kshetra a memorial built at Jorhat in the memory of Sukapha the first Ahom king who ruled Assam in the 13th century would be turned into a top tourist attraction the CM saidHe said Rs 125 crore committed to Tai Ahom Development Council would be released by November 30The chief minister also said all indigenous communities of Assam must remain united so that Assam can be protected from infiltratorsAt the meeting with representatives of the Matak community Sarma said the Sodou Asom Matak Sanmilan will be made the sole body for granting OBC certificates to its membersA Committee of Ministers of various departments will be set up to fix the quantum of reservation of Matak community in educational institutes and all land-related issues of the community will also be resolved in a time bound and transparent manner he addedSarma also said Rs 25 crore committed to the Matak Development Council will be released by November 30He gave assurance of providing land for construction of a Matak Bhawan at Guwahati preserving the monuments and historical sites of the communityMinister for Welfare of Plain Tribes and Backward Classes Ranuj Pegu was present in the meetings PTI SSG NN NN

Guwahati Sep 25 PTI Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday assured Moran and Chutia communities that his government was taking all measures to address their various issues including reservation of seats in educational institutions and land-related problems an official release said Holding separate meetings with representatives of various socio-cultural and students organisations of the two communities Sarma also assured them of steps for their overall development it said During his discussion with representatives of the Moran community the chief minister said that a committee will be constituted to determine reservation for the community out of the Other Backward Caste OBC quota in educational institutions The panel will soon meet the representatives of the community and submit a report to the government he said adding that all land-related issues will be settled in a hassle-free manner On the communitys demand for Scheduled Tribe ST status he said the state government has already agreed in principle to send a recommendation to the Centre the release said The chief minister said the state government will take steps to strengthen the Moran Autonomous Council and asked the community representatives to prepare an annual action plan to be executed by the council for the overall development of the community The government will allocate necessary funds for the implementation of the action plan he said In another meeting with representatives of Chutia community organisations issues related to their demand for ST status increased allocation of funds for their development expeditious progress of Birangana Sati Sadhani University and preservation of historical sites were discussed it said He stressed an action plan by the community representatives to be executed by the Chutia Development Council as well as a roadmap for time-bound solutions to all their issues Sarma said the government will take positive and proactive steps to meet all the genuine demands of the community Minister for Welfare of Plain Tribes and Backward Classes Ranuj Pegu accompanied him in the meetings it added PTI SSG ACD ACD

New Delhi [India], September 18 (ANI): The Centre has relaxed the provisions of Income-Tax Act, 1961 Act in relation to the payment of interest regarding TDS by Scheduled Bank to a member of Scheduled Tribe (ST) community on Friday.