Ambareesh's film experience to come handy

New Delhi, Oct 25: Newly-appointed Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting M H Ambareesh, a well-known Kannada film artiste, will assume his office on Friday.

''I will try my best to make most of experience in the film industry to serve the Ministry,'' Mr Ambareesh told sources over phone.

''But I have to learn a lot about the print and broadcast sector, in which I would certainly benefit from the experience of my Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi,'' he said.

The film industry, the print media and the broadcast sector media have got their own problems and issues and he would try to put in his best to help the Ministry address them, said the MoS.

Mr Ambareesh took oath of office yesterday in a cabinet reshuffle.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, which has got a Minister of State after a long gap, is looking for a suitable place to house his office.

The Ministry, headed by Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, is housed in the Shastri Bhawan but has no office for a Minister of State as this portfolio has not been held by anyone in recent years.

The last time a Minister of State in the I&B Ministry was appointed was during the tenure of Ms Sushma Swaraj in the previous NDA government.

Mr Ambareesh, belonging to dominant Vokkaliga community in Karnataka, is a three-time member of the Lok Sabha from Mandya in the state. He is the first Kannada film personality to be made a Union Minister. He found berth in the Council of Ministers after a decade-long innings in politics.

Mr Ambareesh, who is also known as 'Rebel-Star' among his fans, was born on November 30, 1951.

UNI