Acquitted minister re-inducted into cabinet

PATNA: In the third cabinet reshuffle that CM Nitish Kumar has effected, governor R L Bhatia administered oath of office to Ramanand Prasad Singh at an austere function held at Rajbhawan on Friday. Singh was restored to the post of transport minister, which he earlier held.
Singh, who had been sworn in as transport minister in April last year, had to relinquish the post and also resign a month and four days later after it surfaced that his name figured in a vigilance case of 1990 related to Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB).He was then posted in Kanti Thermal Power Station near Muzaffarpur.
The vigilance court acquitted him of all charges on January 24 this year, which led to his restoration. Recently, CM Nitish Kumar announced that Singh would be restored to the post that he held. "The court has cleared him of all charges. Justice has been done to him," CM Nitish Kumar said, adding: "The charges were levelled against him. He was acquitted by the court. Now it is well within his right to enjoy natural justice. He will head the transport ministry again."
Stating that he was "happy" with the way things finally turned out regarding the situation facing Ramanand Singh, Nitish said that his task, as head of the transport ministry, was defined. "I have given him the task. His task is to take required steps for augmenting the revenue receipts," he said.
State assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Choudhary, senior ministers, including deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi, Ramashray Prasad Singh, Bijendra Prasad Yadav and Giriraj Singh, as well as JD(U) state president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lallan Singh and the party's spokesman Anil Pathak, among others, were present on the occasion. Family members of Ramanand Singh also watched the proceedings of the oath-taking ceremony that got underway with the arrival of the governor, followed by national anthem.