Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is going to reshuffle her cabinet for a second time by promoting a state minister to minister and inducting a new face into the incumbent 47-member council of ministers tomorrow.

State Minister for Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Imran Ahmed will get promoted, while Awami League’s Women Affairs Secretary Fazilatunnesa Indira will be ushered into the cabinet, said sources.

Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam disclosed the news of the reshuffle after a press briefing on the DC Conference at the secretariat yesterday.

Asked whether the two names are Imran Ahmed and Fazilatunnesa Indira, the cabinet secretary responded positively. “We are ready to hold the oath-taking ceremony on Saturday at Bangabhaban,” he said, responding to another query.

Imran Ahmed is a six-time MP from Sylhet-4 constituency. He was made state minister on January 7. Indira is an MP from the reserve seats for women for a second term.

The present Hasina-led cabinet took oath on January 7 for a third consecutive term, following a landslide victory in the December 30 national polls last year.

A minor cabinet reshuffle took place on May 19, when Hasina reallocated portfolios of five cabinet members, curtailing the powers of two ministers and increasing the powers of two state ministers.

In the reshuffle, then state minister for health Murad Hasan was made state minister for information, and then minister for local government, rural development (LGRD) and cooperatives Tajul Islam was made minister for the Local Government Division only.

Besides, Mustafa Jabbar, previously a technocrat minister for post, telecommunication and ICT, was appointed minister for the Post and Telecommunication Division only.

ANNUAL DC CONFERENCE

The cabinet secretary said the conference of deputy commissioners (DCs) will be held on July 14-18, and the prime minister will inaugurate it at her office.

This year’s conference will feature at least 24 working sessions, and some 333 proposals made by the DCs will come up for discussion, he said.

This is the first time DCs will meet the chief justice, the speaker and chiefs of the three forces, and the conference will last five days instead of three.