This story is from January 28, 2015

Serve people, party: Dutta to new ministers

A day after chief minister Tarun Gogoi distributed portfolios to members of his new 14-member ministry, state Congress president Anjan Dutta wrote to all the ministers and reminded them of their responsibility to serve the people and their commitment to work for the party.
Serve people, party: Dutta to new ministers
GUWAHATI: A day after chief minister Tarun Gogoi distributed portfolios to members of his new 14-member ministry, state Congress president Anjan Dutta wrote to all the ministers and reminded them of their responsibility to serve the people and their commitment to work for the party.
Gogoi retained six ministers in his new ministry that was sworn in on Friday. Eight ministers were dropped and in their places Gogoi inducted old and new faces, including Sarat Borkotoky and Bhumidhar Barman.
Apart from the only significant change of Rockybul Hussain being stripped of his earlier forest portfolio, the five other ministers retained in the new ministry have been given their old portfolios. The forest and environment department, which has been under the spotlight for rampant rhino, has been given to newcomer and tea tribe leader Atuwa Munda. Gogoi’s earlier ministry resigned en masse last week to pave way for Gogoi to restructure his new ministry.
On Tuesday, the PCC chief’s letter sent to each minister stated, “People are supreme. You have been given an opportunity to serve the people and therefore it is expected that you will make full use of this opportunity to work for the interest of the people. If you follow this, your name will be etched in the annals of time.” A copy of the letter is with TOI. Dutta wrote, “Do not let down the chief minister and the party leadership who have shown trust in you and given you a place in the council of ministers. It is only with your work you can silence your critics.” Dutta reminded the new ministers that they should not forget the party. “The party plays a key role in every politician’s career but after getting power, they seem to ignore the party and forget to pay back the party that gave them everything to build their career. Of course, not all Congressmen have this mentality and that is why the oldest party in the world is still surviving despite challenges,” said Dutta.
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About the Author
Prabin Kalita

Prabin Kalita is a journalist at The Times of India and is currently the Chief of Bureau (northeast). He has been reporting in mainstream Indian national media since 2001. He has been a field journalist reporting gamut of issues from India’s northeastern region and major developments in neighbouring countries like Myanmar, China, Bhutan and Bangladesh concerning India and northeastern region. He has been covering insurgency—internal and cross-border, politics, natural calamities, environment etc. He is a post-graduate in Geological Sciences from Gauhati University.

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