Bengal Gets Maiden Woman Chief Secretary; Senior Bureaucrats Given Additional Responsibilities
Nandini Chakravorty replaced Manoj Pant, who superannuated on December 31 following a six-month extension and was appointed as the principal secretary to the Chief Minister.
Published : January 1, 2026 at 1:39 PM IST
Kolkata: The West Bengal government on Wednesday appointed senior bureaucrat Nandini Chakravorty as the chief secretary, making her the first woman to hold the top administrative post in the state since Independence, said a senior official.
Chakravorty, an IAS officer of the 1994 batch, replaced Manoj Pant, who was scheduled to superannuate on June 30 but was granted a six-month extension from July 1 to December 31. Pant has been appointed as the principal secretary to the Chief Minister in the rank of chief secretary, the official said.
A well-known name in administrative circles, Chakravorty has served as the principal secretary to the Governor, when she was involved in considerable controversy amidst the tension between the Lok Bhavan and Nabanna, the state secretariat. Later, she was transferred to the Tourism department, followed by the home department in December 2023.
Nabanna sources said Chakravorty will also handle the responsibilities of additional chief secretary of the Home and Hill Affairs department, the Parliamentary Affairs department, and the Tourism department.
Jagdish Prasad Meena has been appointed the home secretary, the post which was held by Chakravorty till her latest elevation.
In a separate notification, the government has also made several reshuffles in the bureaucracy, assigning additional responsibilities to several senior IAS officers. Atri Bhattacharya, additional chief secretary of the Sundarban Affairs department, was entrusted with the charge of the director general of the Netaji Subhas Administrative Training Institute.
Barun Kumar Ray, additional chief secretary of the Non-Conventional and Renewable Energy Sources department, will also look after the tourism department. Surendra Gupta, principal secretary of the Public Health Engineering department, was given the additional charge of divisional commissioner of the Presidency Division.
Likewise, Dushyant Nariala, additional chief secretary of the North Bengal Development department, was also assigned the charge of principal secretary of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), along with the Correctional Administration department.
Also Read
