Delhi Minister Atishi gets additional portfolios of Service, Vigilance departments; LG approves file

Delhi Minister Atishi has now been given additional portfolios of Service and Vigilance departments, a statement from the Raj Niwas said

New Delhi: Delhi Minister Atishi has now been given additional portfolios of Service and Vigilance departments, a statement from the Raj Niwas said on Saturday.

A file was sent to Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena in this regard by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, which was approved earlier today.

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Both the departments were earlier being handled by his fellow minister Saurabh Bharadwaj.

Earlier Atishi was holding Finance, Revenue, planning, Women and Child Development, Education, Higher Education, Tourism, Art, Culture & Language, Public Works Department, Power and Public Relations departments. Following the development, the total number of portfolios being handled by Atishi has reached 14.

Atishi was inducted into the cabinet along with Bharadwaj in March after the resignation of former deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and former health minister Satyendar Jain.

The files over giving additional portfolios to Atishi were sent to LG Saxena a day after Rajya Sabha passed Delhi Services Bill, which empowers Delhi LG to control Group A services in Delhi including on matters relating to appointments, transfers and postings.

The bill was passed after a division in which 131 MPs voted in favour of the legislation and 102 against it.

Home Minister Amit Shah defended the Bill in the Rajya Sabha, saying the proposed legislation is aimed at providing effective and corruption-free governance in the national capital.

During the debate on the bill in the Rajya Sabha, former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi in his maiden debate said that the legislature is ‘perfectly, legitimately valid’ and that if any member disagrees, his conscience must be left free.