Goa MLA Sankalp Amonkar has been assigned the agriculture, civil supplies and consumer affairs, and handicrafts, textiles and coir portfolios, taking charge of departments that had remained with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant for about a year after the death of Ponda MLA Ravi Naik.
The portfolio allocation was issued on Diwali day after Amonkar was inducted into the cabinet on Saturday. The Mormugao MLA is scheduled to formally assume office on Thursday at 11am, but he held his first review meeting with agriculture officials on Monday afternoon to assess issues facing farmers.
Amonkar said he called the meeting before formally taking charge because he wanted to understand the situation of Goa’s farmers without delay. He said his previous role as chairperson of the horticulture corporation had given him familiarity with agricultural issues.
The immediate focus is on farmers affected by deficit rainfall this year. Amonkar said he would seek an appointment with the Union agriculture minister to request additional aid for farmers in Goa. The report did not specify the amount of assistance being sought or the number of farmers expected to qualify.
Amonkar also identified the protection of agricultural land and increased government support for farmers as priorities. These responsibilities will now sit within a ministerial portfolio that combines farm policy with civil supplies and consumer affairs, as well as handicrafts, textiles and coir.
The change ends the arrangement under which Sawant handled the three departments following Naik’s death in October last year. Amonkar’s induction also fills the cabinet vacancy created by Naik’s demise. The transition places the day-to-day political oversight of agriculture and related departments with a new minister at a time when the state is assessing the effects of below-normal rainfall on farming.
Amonkar won the 2022 assembly election as a Congress candidate before joining the BJP along with seven other MLAs. He is the third member of that group to enter the cabinet. Alexio Sequeira was inducted in 2023, while Digambar Kamat joined the cabinet after Sequeira stepped down because of health issues.
Amonkar’s tenure is expected to be brief, with assembly elections scheduled around February 2027. The next steps identified by the minister are the formal assumption of office, continued review of the agriculture department’s concerns and discussions with the Union agriculture minister on additional support for rainfall-hit farmers.
