Bhubaneswar: Soon after taking oath as the new Chief Minister of Odisha, four-time Keonjhar MLA Mohan Charan Majhi today presided over the maiden meeting of his newly-appointed Cabinet at the Lok Seva Bhawan in the capital city here.

The Cabinet gave its approval to four proposals in the first meeting.

The state government has decided to reopen the four gates of the Jagannath temple at Puri town for the devotees from tomorrow, said the Chief Minister.

“The four gates of the shrine will be reopened for the devotees during the Mangala Alati ritual of the deities in the early morning tomorrow. All ministers will remain present at the temple on the occasion,” he added.

The Cabinet has approved a proposal to constitute a corpus fund of Rs 500 crore for the 12th century shrine.

The state government will soon introduce a policy to raise the MSP for paddy to Rs 3,100 in Odisha. Besides, the government will take steps to implement the 'Subhadra' scheme in the state within 100 days, said the Chief Minister.

Under the Subhadra scheme, each woman in the state will get a cash voucher of Rs 50,000 for the development of her family. The women can encash these vouchers within two years.

Earlier in the day, Majhi (52), a tribal leader, today took oath as the first Chief Minister from BJP in Odisha.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) defeated the Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in the just concluded Assembly polls in the state. The BJP has won at least 78 Assembly seats of the total 147 in Odisha while candidates of BJD came victorious in 51 constituencies.

Governor Raghubar Das administered the oaths of office and secrecy to Majhi, a tribal leader, at a ceremony at Janata Maidan in the capital city here.

A 15-member Council of Ministers including two Deputy Chief Ministers—KV Singh Deo and Pravati Parida—were also sworn in on the occasion.