Daijiworld Media Network - Kolkata
Kolkata, May 10: Newly sworn-in chief minister Suvendu Adhikari has initiated a major administrative overhaul within hours of assuming office, carrying out sweeping changes across the chief minister’s office and sections of the state bureaucracy.
Less than a day after taking oath, the new administration replaced 16 bureaucrats who had been attached to the previous Chief Minister’s Office under former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Among the prominent officers moved out was IAS officer Santanu Mukhopadhya, who was considered one of Banerjee’s close associates.
Another key transfer involved Pratap Nayek, linked to the Trinamool Congress-affiliated West Bengal Government Employees’ Federation, who was reassigned to the Palbazar Block Development Office in Bijanbari, located in Darjeeling district.
In a broader administrative restructuring, 46 officers who previously served as principal secretaries to ministers in the earlier cabinet have been temporarily placed under the state Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department until further postings are decided.
The new government also announced the appointment of retired IAS officer Subrata Gupta as advisor to the Chief Minister. Gupta had earlier served as a special observer appointed by the Election Commission of India during the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly elections.
Additionally, IAS officer Subrata Bala, a 2017-batch officer, has been appointed Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister. Prior to this, he was serving as Additional District Magistrate of South 24 Parganas.
Parallel to the bureaucratic reshuffle, the Kolkata Police has transferred 93 officers across various ranks, including inspectors, assistant commissioners, and deputy commissioners, outside the city police jurisdiction.
Many of the transferred officers were reportedly associated with the Trinamool Congress-linked Police Welfare Association. The officers have now been posted to districts across North Bengal, the Sundarbans region, and tribal-dominated western districts such as Bankura and Purulia.
The rapid series of changes is being viewed as the new administration’s attempt to reorganise the state’s bureaucratic and policing framework immediately after the political transition in West Bengal.