Arvind Kejriwal To Give Additional Charge To Minister Atishi: Report

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has forwarded a proposal to Lt Governor VK Saxena for handing over charge of the city government's services and vigilance departments to Atishi, official sources said on Tuesday.

The move comes a day after the Delhi services bill secured parliamentary approval after the Rajya Sabha passed the measure that will give the Centre control over the bureaucracy in the national capital. The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023, was passed on Monday with 131 MPs voting in favour and 102 against.

Delhi Health and Water Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj currently holds the services and the vigilance portfolios.

Sources in the Lt Governor's Office said they received the file from the Delhi government.

Atishi -- the only woman minister in the Delhi Cabinet -- will now hold 14 portfolios, the highest among all ministers in the city government. Saurabh Bharadwaj and Atishi were inducted into the Cabinet in March following the resignations of Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain.

"She will be given additional charge of the services and the vigilance departments with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal forwarding the file for the Cabinet reshuffle to Lt Governor VK Saxena for approval," a source said.

There was no word on the reason for the reshuffle.

Atishi was given additional charge of the revenue, planning and the finance departments in the last week of June after Saxena approved a proposal to reshuffle the Cabinet. She was given charge of the public relations department on June 1.

These four departments were earlier with Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot.

Atishi currently holds the public works, finance, revenue, planning, women and child development, education, art, culture and languages, tourism, power, public relations and the training and technical education portfolios.

The Kalkaji MLA entered politics through the India Against Corruption movement, which culminated in the AAP's formation in 2012.

She had completed her schooling from Springdales School, New Delhi, before graduating with an Honours degree in history from St Stephen's College in 2001. She was a Delhi University topper and the Delhi University History (Hons) gold medallist for the 2001 batch.

For her postgraduation, Atishi went on to get a Chevening Scholarship for a masters in history from the University of Oxford. After working in the education sector for a few years, Atishi returned to Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar for a masters degree in education.

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