New ministries carved out to accommodate oversized cabinet

ISLAMABAD: The Cabinet Division on Tuesday issued notification of portfolios of federal ministers and ministers of state who had taken oath of their offices on Monday. The portfolios of some ministers have also been changed.

Interestingly, Makhdoom Amin Fahim was not notified as the senior federal minister as was widely expected. To accommodate different federal ministers, the PPP-led coalition government has taken the unique step of bifurcating the Communications Ministry and the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock to create two more ministries.

The division of Postal Services has been separated from the Communications Ministry and a new ministry with the name of Postal Services has been created to accommodate coalition partner BNP(A)’s Senator Israrullah Zehri.

Similarly, the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock has been bifurcated to carve out a new ministry to be called the Ministry of Livestock and Dairy Development, headed by Hamayun Aziz Kurd. Nazar Muhammad Gondal will head the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

Hamayun Aziz Kurd was in charge of the Ministry of Population Welfare but it has now been given to Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan. What has surprised everyone is the division of the Ministry of Religious Affairs into Minorities Affairs and Zakat and Ushr. Hamid Saeed Kazmi will head the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Shahbaz Bhatti will look after the Ministry of Minorities Affairs while Senator Noorul Haq Qadri has been given the Ministry of Zakat and Ushr.

Hina Rabbani Khar has become the first woman Minister of State for Finance and Economic Affairs. She headed the Economic Affairs Division in the Shaukat Aziz government.

The portfolios of the federal ministers and ministers of state are as follows:

Makhdoom Amin Fahim (Commerce)

Dr Arbab Alamgir Khan (Communications)

Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar (Defence)

Abdul Qayyum Khan Jatoi (Defence Production)

Mir Hazar Khan

Bijrani (Education)

Hameed Ullah Jan Afridi (Environment)

Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi (Foreign Affairs)

Nazar Muhammad Gondal (Food & Agriculture)

Mir Aijaz Hussain Jakhrani (Health)

Rehmatullah Kakar (Housing and Works)

Syed Mumtaz Alam Gilani (Human Rights)

Mian Manzoor Ahmad Wattoo (Industries and Production)

Ms.Sherry Rehman (Information and Broadcasting)

Mian Raza Rabbani (Inter-Provincial Coordination)

Waqar Ahmed Khan (Investment)

Qamar Zaman Kaira (Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas)

Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah (Labour and Manpower)

Farooq H Naek (Law and Justice)

Humayun Aziz Kurd (Livestock and Dairy Development)

Justice (R) AR A Thahim (Local Government and Rural Development)

Shahbaz Bhatti (Minorities)

Nawabzada Khawaja Muhammad Khan Hoti (Narcotics Control)

Dr Zaheeruddin Babar Awan (Parliamentary Affairs)

Makhdoom Shahabuddin (Planning and Development)

Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan (Population Welfare)

Mir Israrullah Zehri (Postal Services)

Syed Naveed Qamar (Privatisation)

Haji Ghulam Ahmed Bilour (Railways)

Syed Hamid Saeed Kazmi (Religious Affairs)

Samina Khalid Ghurki (Social Welfare and Special Education)

Pir Aftab Hussain Shah Gillani (Sports)

Najamuddin Khan (States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON))

Lal Muhammad Khan (Special Initiatives)

Rana Farooq Saeed Khan (Textile Industry)

Raja Pervaiz Ashraf (Water and Power)

Shahid Hussain Bhutto (Youth Affairs)

Noorul Haq Qadri (Zakat and Ushr)

Following are the names of ministers of state and their portfolios:-

Chaudhry Imtiaz Safdar Waraich (Communication)

Arbab Muhammad Zahir (Defence)

Sardar Salim Haider Khan (Defence Production)

Ghulam Farid Kathia (Education)

Hina Rabbani Khar (Finance and Economic Affairs)

Rafique Ahmed Jamali (Food and Agriculture)

Nawabzada Malik Amad Khan (Foreign Affairs)

Muhammad Afzal Sandhu (Health)

Mohammad Tariq Anis (Housing and Works)

Dr.Ayat Ullah Durrani (Industries and Production)

Syed Sumsam Ali S. Bukhari (Information and Broadcasting)

Tasneem Ahmed Qureshi (Interior)

Abdul Raziq (Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas)

Masood Abbas (Local Government and Rural Development)

Ms Mehreen Anwar Raja (Parliamentary Affairs)

Sardar Nabeel Ahmed Gabol (Ports and Shipping)

Muhammad Jadam Mangrio (Railways)

Ms Shagufta Jumani (Religious Affairs).