Mumbai, Jan 18 The Maharashtra government on Saturday announced the list of district guardian and co-district guardian ministers, a week before the Republic Day.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will be the Gadchiroli district guardian minister while Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will hold the post for Thane and Mumbai city districts.
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has been appointed the district guardian minister for Pune and Beed. Incidentally, the NCP minister Dhananjay Munde, who hails from Beed district, has not been assigned Beed district guardian ministership especially amid the chorus increasing for his resignation in the wake of his close associate Walmik Karad’s links with the brutal killing of Massajog sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh from Beed district. Munde has not been appointed as the guardian minister of any other district.
Revenue minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule has been appointed the guardian minister for Nagpur and Amravati districts, water resources minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil (Ahilyanagar), medical education minister Hasan Mushif (Washim), higher and technical minister Chandrakant Patil (Sangli), water resources minister Girish Mahajan (Nashik), forest minister Ganesh Naik ( Palghar), water supply minister Gukabrao Patil (Jalgaon), soil and water conservation minister Sanjay Rathod (Yavatmal), information technology minister Ashish Shelar and skill development minister Manglprabhat Lodha (Mumbai Suburban district) and industry minister Uday Samant (Ratnagiri).
The minister of marketing Jaykumar Rawal has been appointed as the Dhule district guardian minister, environment minister Pankaja Munde (Jalna), renewable energy minister Atul Save (Nanded), tribal development minister Ashok Uike (Chandrapur), tourism minister Sambhuraj Desai (Satara), woman and child welfare minister Aditi Tatkare (Raigad), public work minister Shivendraraje Bhosale (Latur), agriculture minister Manikrao Kokate (Nandurbar), rural development minister Jaikumar Gore (Solapur), food and drug administration minister Narahari Zirwal (Hingoli), textile minister Sanjay Savkare (Bhandara), social justice minister Sanjay Shirsat (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar), transport minister Pratap Sarnaik (Dharashiv), relief and rehabilitation minister Makarand Patil (Buldhana), ports and fisheries minister Nitesh Rane (Sindhudurg), labour minister Akash Phundkar (Akola), cooperation minister Babasaheb Patil (Gondia), minister of state for finance Ashish Jaiswal (Gadchiroli co district guardian minister), minister of state for home Pankaj Bhoyar (Wardha) and minister of state for public health Meghana Sakore-Bordikar (Parbhani).
Public health minister Prakash Abitkar has been appointed as the Kolhapur district guardian minister while minister of state for urban development Madhuri Misal as the co-district guardian minister.
Moreover, the EGS minister Bharat Gogawale and minister of state for home Yogesh Kadam have also not been appointed as the guardian minister of any district.
Even though Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had expanded his cabinet on December 15 last year, the appointment of district guardian ministers was not taking place due to claims and counterclaims made by the MahaYuti partners including BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP.
However, Fadnavis succeeded in bringing three parties together to arrive at a consensus and thereafter the list was announced today. Fadnavis is leaving for Davos early Sunday morning to attend the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.
The district guardian minister heads the district planning and development council which plays an important role in the implementation of development schemes.
--IANS
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