Portfolios will be allocated soon: Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Mumbai,
Aug
13:
Maharashtra
Deputy
Chief
Minister
Devendra
Fadnavis
on
Saturday
said
portfolios
would
be
allocated
to
the
newly-appointed
ministers
in
the
state
soon.

He
also
assured
that
the
government
would
soon
release
the
compensation
for
crop
losses
suffered
by
the
state
farmers
due
to
heavy
rains.
Talking
to
reporters
at
the
airport
here,
Fadnavis
congratulated
Chandrashekhar
Bawankule
on
his
appointment
as
the
Bharatiya
Janata
Party’s
(BJP)
Maharashtra
unit
president.

”Portfolios
will
be
allocated
to
the
new
ministers
soon,” he
said
in
response
to
a
query.

Chief
Minister
Eknath
Shinde
expanded
his
two-member
ministry
on
Tuesday,
41
days
after
taking
oath
as
the
CM.
He
inducted
18
ministers
–
nine
each
from
his
rebel
Shiv
Sena
group
and
the
BJP.

Maharashtra
Cabinet
expansion:
Fadnavis
to
get
Home,
Shinde
to
retain
urban
development

With
this,
the
strength
of
Maharashtra
ministry
has
now
gone
up
to
20,
less
than
half
the
maximum
allowed
strength
of
43.
Shinde
was
sworn
in
as
the
chief
minister
on
June
30,
when
Fadnavis
took
oath
as
deputy
CM.
The
deputy
chief
minister
said
the
crop
loss
compensation
announced
by
the
government
for
farmers
will
be
distributed
soon
and
added
that
the
area
of
crop
damages
is
still
increasing.

”The
compensation
will
soon
be
released
after
calculating
losses
from
all
these
affected
areas,” he
said.
The
Maharashtra
government
on
Wednesday
decided
to
double
the
amount
of
compensation
which
the
farmers
affected
by
the
excessive
rains
in
July
are
entitled
to
get.
”As
per
the
current
NDRF
(National
Disaster
Response
Fund)
norms,
a
farmer
receives
Rs
6,800
per
hectare
as
compensation.
We
have
decided
to
double
the
amount,”
CM
Shinde
had
told
reporters
after
the
cabinet
meeting
on
Wednesday.
Talking
about
Bawankule,
Fadnavis
said
he
has
been
a
very
staunch
worker
of
the
BJP,
who
rose
from
the
lower
rungs
and
went
on
to
hold
various
important
positions
in
the
organisation.

”Bawankule
performed
very
well
in
all
the
responsibilities
given
to
him
by
the
party,”
the
deputy
CM
said.