1st Meghalaya home minster is India’s 2nd

SHILLONG, MAR 12: Meghalaya notched up another first when Roshan Warjri became the first woman legislator to hold the state home portfolio. She is also the first woman home minister in the entire north eastern states and the second in the country, the first being Sabitha Indra Reddy of Andra Pradesh in 2009.

As chief minister Mukul Sangma distributed the portfolios to the eleven newly inducted cabinet ministers, nobody in their wildest dream thought that he would give the sensitive home portfolio to one of the women legislators. When the portfolio list was out, he sprang a surprise by giving home to Roshan Warjri, a two times legislator who had contested from regional party ticket before joining the Congress and winning it from North Shillong constituency.

The 2013 Meghalaya assembly election threw up as many as three firsts- for the first time four women legislators were elected, AT Mondal became the first non-tribal to hold the constitutional position of the Meghalaya Assembly speaker and Roshan Warjri, fondly called Kong Kei, became the first woman to become the state home minister.

Following is the list of the portfolios distributed to the eleven cabinet ministers by Sangma:

Rowell Lyngdoh (Deputy Chief Minister)

(a)   Water Resources.

(b)   Soil and Water Conservation

(c)    Home (Passport)

(d)   Law

(e)    Election

(f)    Administrative Reforms

Roytre C. Laloo (Deputy Chief Minister)

(a)   Public Health Engineering

(b)   School Education and Literacy

(c)    Higher and Technical Education

(d)   Revenue and Disaster Management

(e)    Re-organization

H.D.R. Lyngdoh, Minister

(a)   Transport

(b)   General Administration Department

(c)    District Council Affairs

(d)   Cooperation

Prestone Tynsong, Minister

(a)   Community and Rural Development

(b)   Forests and Environment

(c)    Border Areas Development

(d)   Parliamentary Affairs

Debora C. Marak, Minister

(a)   Social Welfare

(b)   Animal Husbandry & Veterinary

(c)    Printing and Stationery

(d)   Secretariat Administration Department

A.L. Hek, Minister

(a)   Health & Family Welfare

(b)   Information Technology

(c)    Information and Public Relations

(d)   Registration and Stamps

Roshan Warjri, Minister

(a)   Home (Police)

(b)   Home (Jail)

(c)    PWD (Buildings)

Zenith Sangma, Minister

(a)   Sports & Youth Affairs

(b)   Housing

(c)    Excise

(d)   Sericulture & Weaving

Clement Marak, Minister

(a)   Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs

(b)   Power

(c)    Arts and Culture

M. Ampareen Lyngdoh, Minister

(a)   Urban Affairs

(b)   Municipal Administration

(c)    Labour

S. Dhar, Minister

(a)   PWD (Roads)

(b)   Home Guards and Civil Defence

(c)    Legal Metrology                                               :By Our Reporter