Chhattisgarh to take 38 posts out of office of profit ambit

New Delhi: The newly formed Congress government in Chhattisgarh has initiated a change in legislation to take 38 posts out of the ambit of office of profit in a bid to accommodate party MLAs in different boards and corporations.

The state government has moved a bill to amend Chhattisgarh Vidhan Mandal Sadasya Nirarhata NIvaran Vidheyak 1967 to add these 38 posts in the schedule so that any elected MLA can hold these posts without being disqualified.

Once passed in the assembly, the amendment would come into effect retrospectively from January 1, officials said.


A party leader said many MLAs who could not be accommodated in the state cabinet are feeling left out. “We need to accommodate them. This is why the nigam posts have been taken out of the ambit so that MLAs can be appointed in boards,” the leader told ET.

The move has been necessitated after Congress swept the state polls in November 2018, winning 68 seats in the 90-member Assembly. Since the Cabinet size is fixed at 13 (including the chief minister), Congress has not been able to accommodate several senior leaders.

With the Lok Sabha elections round the corner, the party does not want to take any chances by leaving any big leader unhappy, the party leader said.

The posts being removed from the list of office of profit include those at Chhattisgarh Film Development Corporation Raipur, Chhattisgarh State Cooperative Bank, Third Gender Welfare Board, Chhattisgarh Sindhi Academy, and Chhattisgarh Urdu Academy.

Earlier, the state Assembly had passed a resolution to increase the cabinet strength to 20% of the total assembly strength. The resolution has been sent to the Centre. The Congress government in Chhattisgarh is treading carefully on the issue as the office of profit controversy has dogged other state governments.