Guwahati, June 27: Chief minister Tarun Gogoi today approved the allocation of portfolios to the eight parliamentary secretaries ? a move that ended nearly a month’s wait for the beneficiaries.

Four of the eight beneficiaries will be assisting Gogoi in running key departments like home, finance, PWD and sports.

Debojit Das, OSD at the chief minister’s office, said Dilder Reza had been assigned home, Ajit Singh finance, Bibekananda Dalai PWD while P. Brahma would be in charge of sports, general administration department and secretariat administration department. Das said the order was approved today.

The other four include Sarat Saikia, who has been entrusted with education, Jibantara Ghatowar, who has been allocated the health and family welfare portfolio, Bidya Singh Engleng, who has got power and industries and Uttara Kalita, who has been put in charge of panchayat and rural development.

While seven of them are from the Congress, P. Brahma is from its coalition partner BPPF. The appointments had been made on May 30, but the allocation of portfolios had to wait as Gogoi was indisposed after returning from an overseas trip. All eight will hold the rank of minister of state and, if invited, can attend the meeting of the council of ministers.

But sceptics doubted what they could deliver. “They are better placed than MLAs but I can’t see them doing much except carrying some weight in their respective constituency or district,” a source said.