Pushkar Singh Dhami has been sworn in as the chief minister of Uttarakhand for the second consecutive term today. In his last stint of Chief ministership for six months, he had set the tone for BJP to come back in power. Dhami is back but not all his cabinet members are with him this time. Three ministers of last regime, Bishan Singh Chupal, Arvind Pandey and Bansidhar Bhagat are not part of the fresh cabinet. Let’s have a look at what all has changed in Dhami’s second term.
Younger and Leaner
Pushkar Singh Dhami is one of the youngest Chief Ministers of the current times. In his last stint, the 12-member cabinet was not that young, the average age of his cabinet was 59 Years. Now, Uttarakhand’s new government has 8 ministers and the average age has reduced to 56 years. Oldest of them is Satpal Maharaj (70), while the youngest one is Saurabh Bahuguna (43).
Assets
The average assets of the fresh cabinet is Rs 15.95 crore, which is almost Rs 3 crore greater than the last one (Rs 12.68 crore). Satpal Maharaj (Rs 87 crore) is the richest of the peers and he owns more than half of the cabinet's total assets (Rs 143.61).
Education
In terms of education, 75% of the last Uttarakhand cabinet were at least graduates while this time the number has improved to 77%. The highest educated of them is Srinagar MLA Dhan Singh Rawat who is Doctor of Philosophy from Hemwanti Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University Srinagar.
Regional Balance: Kumaon vs Garhwal
Last time, the Dhami Cabinet had 6 members each, both from Kumaon and Garhwal regions. This time, CM Dhami has 5 cabinet members from Garhwal region, while Kumaon region has 4 members, including the CM (provided he chooses a seat from Kumaon region).
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