Chief minister Arjun Munda at the Birsa Munda airport after his arrival from New Delhi on Saturday. Picture by Hardeep Singh

Ranchi, March 22: Chief minister Arjun Munda today ensured a “dignified status” for his predecessor Babulal Marandi.

Rushing to his office straight from the airport after his return from Delhi, Munda got a Cabinet minister status for Marandi approved in the second Cabinet meeting. The status entitles Marandi to a “suitable official residence”, besides a chauffeur-driven air-conditioned car and a few employees at his disposal.

According to sources, Marandi has emerged a “martyr” among the BJP rank and file because of his “sacrifice” to keep the NDA coalition intact in Jharkhand.

Sources said the high command had asked Marandi to put in his papers. The BJP central leadership was worried about Marandi’s fate after he quit as chief minister.

“It was obvious that Marandi would not have agreed to become a minister in the Arjun Munda government nor would he have agreed to settle down with a post in the party. Therefore, a face-savingarrangement has been made for him. At least he can now sit with dignity along with other ministers in the Assembly,” a senior party leader said.

However, sources in the Cabinet said nothing was done “out of the way” for Marandi.

“Such facilities are extended to former chief ministers in all states. This has been done in case of former West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu,” he said.

Soon after entering his office, Munda summoned senior officials, including chief secretary G. Krishnan, principal secretary U.K. Sangma and home secretary J.B. Tubid and held discussions to finalise the details of providing the Cabinet status to the former chief minister, sources said.

Jharkhand is headed for a major Cabinet and bureaucratic shuffle, sources said.

Though Munda refrained from spelling out the exact size of his Cabinet, he said: “More members would be included to ensure development of the state. We are all working for the prosperity of Jharkhand and I want more members from the ruling NDA coalition to play an active role in the development process,” he said.

The chief minister said he was waiting for a response from Raj Bhavan in this connection.

“Let the Governor decide a date for swearing-in ceremony of other ministers. After that a formal list will be prepared. I need more cooperation from NDA partners for running the government. If there are more members in the Cabinet, the result will be much better,” Munda said.

The Cabinet gave a green signal to the recruitment rules of primary, middle and high school teachers and non-teaching staff after partial amendment of the existing ones.

It also cleared the deck for the implementation of value-added tax (VAT) in the state. Besides, the Cabinet also approved a grant-in-aid of Rs 10.70 crore for the Birsa Agriculture University. This was the second meeting of the Cabinet after Munda took over as the chief minister.

The Cabinet has also taken a decision to provide Rs 6,000 per house as compensation for the 25,000 houses damaged in the hailstorm.

A decision to send survey teams to the affected areas to make an assessment of the crops damaged has also been taken. Once the survey is complete, the government will announce relief package for farmers, Cabinet sources said.