Bureaucrat removed as Bengal Guv’s principal Secy to be new home secretary

Kolkata: In a surprise move, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has finally decided to appoint an IAS officer, who was earlier removed from the chair of the principal secretary to Governor C.V. Ananda Bose, as the new state home secretary.

Sources from the state government said that Nandini Chakraborty, who was removed from the key bureaucratic position in the Raj Bhawan following the desire of the Governor himself, will be taking over from the current state home secretary, B.P. Gopalika.

A notification was issued by the state personnel and administrative reforms department on Sunday afternoon, notifying Chakraborty’s name as the new state home secretary. She is currently serving as the state tourism secretary.

Gopalika is slated to be elevated to the position of state chief secretary, as the incumbent, H.K. Dwivedi, is retiring on Sunday.

However, sources in the state government said that Chakraborty’s choice as the new state home secretary has come as a surprise for the bureaucratic circle in the state since her name was not in the list of probables.

A 1994- batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, Chakraborty has served in a number of important bureaucratic positions. She had always been a blue-eyed bureaucrat of the chief minister.

Her name was dragged into controversy early this year after the Governor recommended to the state government that she be removed from the chair of the principal secretary to the Governor. She reportedly went into the bad books of the Governor as the latter felt that she was acting on behalf of the state secretariat within the Raj Bhawan.

After being removed from that chair, she was made the state tourism secretary.