MUZAFFARABAD, Jan 27: The coalition government in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) finally announced on Monday night the portfolios of 23-member cabinet, having representation from five parties or groups.

The first batch of cabinet, comprising 11 ministers, was sworn in here on January 14 whereas another 12 ministers took oath to their offices on January 24 in Kashmir House Islamabad. However, they were awaiting allocation of portfolios which had become quite a contentious issue owing to expectations and demands of the coalition partners.

An official spokesman told Dawn here on Tuesday that the allocation of portfolios had been made by Prime Minister Sardar Mohammad Yaqoob Khan in complete consensus with all coalition partners.

Following are the names and portfolios of the cabinet according to a late night notification, issued by the Services and General Administration Department.

Mian Abdul Waheed, Forests; Mrs Noreen Arif, Social Welfare and Women Development, Population Welfare and Technical and Vocational Training Authority (TAVTA); Mohammad Hanif Awan, Zakat, Usher and Muzaffarabad City Development Project (MCDP); Chaudhry Mohammad Rasheed, Hydro Electric Board (HEB), Religious Affairs; Chaudhry Latif Akbar, Finance, Planning and Development; Col (retired) Mohammad Nasim Khan, Communication and Works, Reconstruction, Bagh City Development Project (BCDP); Sardar Qamaruz Zaman, Health Services; Chaudhry Mohammad Aziz, Education (schools), IT Board; Sardar Mohammad Naeem Khan, Education (colleges), Small Industries; Raja Nisar Ahmed Khan, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Environment; Major (retired) Munsif Dad, Agriculture, Irrigation, Armed Services Board; Chaudhry Mohammad Yousaf, Mangla Dam Affairs, Cooperatives, Wildlife and Fisheries; Chaudhry Rukhsar Ahmed, Revenue; Chaudhry Anwaarul Haq, Physical Planning and Housing, Public Health; Ali Shan Chaudhry, Prisons, Custodian (evacuee property) and Stamps; Abdul Majid Khan, Information, Azad Kashmir Logging and Sawmills Corporation (AKLASC), Azad Kashmir Mineral and Industrial Development Corporation (AKMIDC); Raja Mohammad Siddique, Transport, Civil Defence, Animal Husbandry; Syed Shaukat Ali Shah, Food; Chaudhry Mohammad Akbar Ibrahim, Rehabilitation; Mohammad Siddique Batli, Auqaf, Islamic Ideological Council; Ghulam Mohiuddin Deevan, Trade and Industry; Tahir Khokhar, Tourism, Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs; and Mahmood Riaz, electricity.

However, the portfolio of local government and rural development had not been allocated to any minister. Official sources indicated that some political leaders, though currently out of assembly, were likely to be inducted as advisers in the cabinet in the coming days.

It may be noted here that the coalition government comprises 31 lawmakers, of whom 3 are holding the office of prime minister, speaker and deputy speaker, 23 are members of the cabinet while two are holding the office of adviser to the chairman AJK council (prime minister of Pakistan).

Apart from them, only three lawmakers, Barrister Sultan Mahmood, Chaudhry Abdul Majeed and Raja Farooq Haider are without any public office as they head their respective political parties, Peoples Muslim League, Peoples Party and Muslim Conference (forward bloc).