Seemingly undaunted by a warning from his predecessor about the challenges ahead, new Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister AKM Shahjahan Kamal yesterday said turning Biman into a profitable venture would be a piece of cake for him.

“He [Menon] told me that I have been thrown into a fire. But I think my job is very easy,”Shahjahan, who replaced Menon in a major yet surprising cabinet reshuffle, told reporters at his secretariat office.

Before him three ministers -- Jatiya Party's GM Quader, Awami League's Faruk Khan and Workers' Party's Rashed Khan Menon -- headed the ministry since the AL took office in 2009.

Despite making some progress, Quader and Faruk could not turn it into a profitable venture. For the last three years under Menon, however, Biman made substantial profits.

Shahjahan admitted Biman has an image problem, but vowed to take the national flag carrier to a new height in Asia even “at the cost of his blood”. 

On his first day on the job, however, it was his son Fahim Kamal Chowdhury who stole the show, taking pictures with his father, officials and visitors, which is very unusual.  

Officials were generally vexed, with one asking, “What role does his son have here?”

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inducted three new faces to her council of ministers and made a state minister a full minister. The next day, portfolios of five ministers were reshuffled.

Of the nine, four did not go to their new office yesterday while Narayon Chandra Chanda, who was given the charge of fisheries and livestock ministry, is in India for treatment.

Talking to reporters at his office, Mustafa Jabbar, the new minister for posts, telecommunications and information technology, said time was now ripe for building a highway for internet traffic like the highway for vehicles. 

The noted IT expert, known for creating the first Bangla keyboard “Bijoy”, said his ministry would take digital services to people's doorstep.

He acknowledged that the ministry had some critical problems and it would not be easy to solve those.

“But one thing I want to say that we have some organisations under the ministry, and I will work to make them profitable and dynamic,” said Jabbar, who was made minister in technocrat quota.

Assuming his new role as social welfare minister, Menon said he ran the civil aviation and tourism ministry successfully and was satisfied with what they achieved there in the last four years.

He termed his new job “challenging”, saying his responsibility was now more than any other ministries as it was involved with the safety and welfare of the people.

“I hope that I will do a better job in my new assignment."

Replying to a question, Menon said, “The aviation and tourism sector was unprofitable in the past, but it had been making profit for the last three consecutive years.”

State Minister Nuruzzaman Ahmed, who was in charge of the social welfare ministry since June last year, welcomed Menon with a bouquet.

Portfolios of Menon as well as two other high-profile ministersfrom Jatiya Party --Anisul Islam Mahmud and Anwar Hossain Manju -- were reshuffledon Wednesday. All of them were in the dark about it until the official announcement.

Neither of the JP ministers joined their new office yesterday.

State minister for post and telecommunication Tarana Halim, who was shifted to the information ministry, and Kazi Keramat Ali, newly-appointed state minister for education, also did not go to their office.

Tarana and Keramat are likely to start their new assignmentson Sunday, sources said.