The Hindu : National : Downsizing complete in north east

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Wednesday, Jul 07, 2004

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National

Downsizing complete in north east

By Our Special Correspondent

GUWAHATI, JULY 6. The process of downsizing of Ministries in the north-eastern States barring Arunachal Pradesh was completed today with the Chief Ministers of Manipur, Meghalaya and Nagaland announcing the list of Ministers retained by them.

In Manipur, the Chief Minister, Okram Ibobi Singh, has retained 11 Ministers while recommending that the Governor accept the resignation of 20 Ministers. The new Secular Progressive Front (SPF) Ministry of Mr. Ibobi now has 10 from the ruling Congress and two from the Communist Party of India.

In Meghalaya, the Chief Minister, D.D. Lapang, has retained one member each from the three regional parties, United Democratic Party, the Meghalaya Democratic Party and the Khun Hyentrip National Awakening Movement, but dropped the former Chief Minister, F.A. Khonglam. The new 12-member Meghalaya Democratic Alliance Ministry now has nine members from the Congress. Mr. Lapang has forwarded the resignation papers of the remaining 28 Ministers to the Governor. The Nagaland Chief Minister, Neiphiu Rio, has cut the size of his 36-member Ministry to 12 by retaining eight members from the Nagaland People's Front, two from the Bharatiya Janata Party and one independent. While Tripura was the first State in the region to carry out the downsizing exercise, the Assam Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi, announced yesterday the list of 18 Ministers retained by him.

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