MUMBAI, NOV 2: The jumbo sized Cabinet of the Democratic Front Government has forced at least nine Ministers of state to begin their work without office premises.``We explored all possibilities. Under the existing situation, it will be impossible to provide office premises to nine Ministers of state either in Mantralaya or the state-owned Manora guest house, Nariman Point in near future,'' a senior official told The Indian Express.The official said Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh had a marathon meeting with Chief Secretary Arun Bongirwar and Principal Secretary Suresh Kumar on providing office as well as residential accommodation to the 55-member Cabinet.``Since the Chief Minister is keen to provide them office premises in Mantralaya itself, we will have to shift at least a dozen sections to the new Administrative Building across Mantralaya. It will be practically difficult to accept such a proposal since even that building is also over crowded,'' the official said.The Ministers of state without office space are : Hemant Deshmukh (Labour, Employment and Self Employment), Nawab Malik (Housing and Slum Improvement), Sulekha Kumbare (Water Supply and Sanitation), Mohan Patil (Horticulture), Basavraj Patil (Rural Development), Subhash Thakre (Forest and Environment), Mohamed Arif Khan (Food and Civil Supplies), Gangadhar Gade (Transport) and Ajit Ghorpade (Irrigation). The Democratic Front Government will deny the ministers residential accommodation too. ``Sooner or later, we will be able to provide them office accommodation, but providing housing premises, will be Herculean task. We have limited number of houses for the cabinet members. At the moment, barring two to three cabinet members, none have vacated them. So, unless, we get vacant possession, no houses could be allotted to any of the ministers,'' the official said.Besides Vilasrao Deshmukh and Deputy CM Chhagan Bhujbal, less than half a dozen ministers actually began their work in Mantralaya.``It is really unfortunate that we will not be able to sit in Mantralaya despite the fact that we are cabinet members. We are sure, the Chief Minister will find a solution to the problem,'' according to a Minister of state.Ministers of state for Home Kripa Shankar Singh and Manikrao Thakre, Minister of state for Irrigation Balasaheb Thorat and Minister of state for Higher and Technical Education Anees Ahmad held official meetings. ``I discussed the existing status of my department,'' Ahmad said.Restoring law and order situation in the metropolis is the top priority of Kripa Shankar Singh. ``The general impression is that all is not well in Mumbai. We will have to boost the morale of the police force and simultaneously assure the people that here is a government, which really cares for them,'' Kripa Shankar Singh added.Meanwhile, the Chief Minister said that the dismissed ministers will be rehabilitated with dignity. ``Certainly, it was painful to sack the colleagues just three days after the swearing, but it was done in larger interest of the front government,'' he said.Sacked minister Satish Chaturvedi reiterated that the decision to dismiss the cabinet members will prove counter-productive for the party. ``For a big party like the Congress, I am a very small man, but the decision was more humiliating for the CM, since it was taken at the instance of the Nationalist Congress Party, which has launched a tirade against our leader Sonia Gandhi,'' he added.AICC General Secretary Sushil Kumar Shinde, MPCC President Prataprao Bhosale and Housing Minister Rohidas Patil had a prolonged meeting with Chaturvedi at the latter's residence to take stock of the current political situation. Much to the surprise of Chaturvedi, senior BJP leader and former Public Works Minister Nitin Gadkari also met the sacked minister.
