KOLKATA: After 25 years, Bengal on Sunday got a woman as its home secretary.
Nandini Chakravorty was appointed the new home secretary, as B P Gopalika, the earlier incumbent, formally took charge as the state chief secretary.
Former chief secretary H K Dwivedi was on Sunday appointed as CM Mamata Banerjee's chief advisor (finance) for a period of three years.Dwivedi completed his tenure on Sunday.
Gopalika, a 1989-batch IAS officer, would be holding the post of chief secretary for only five months as he is scheduled to retire on May 31.
The Centre had in June granted a six-month extension to Dwivedi as the chief secretary at the request of the state government.
Before Chakravorty, the state had got only one woman chief secretary. On November 26, 1996, the Jyoti Basu government had appointed Lina Chakraborty as the home secretary. She was in the post till September 7, 1998.
Chakravorty studied geography in Lady Brabourne college, and MA from Centre for Study of Regional Development (CSRD) in JNU, before opting for IAS. In 1993 she was also conferred the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Award.
She is also the state tourism and parliamentary affairs secretary. She will continue to hold additional charge of both the departments, along with her assignment as home secretary. Gopalika on Sunday formally handed over the charge to her.
In February this year, Chakravorty found herself caught in a controversy after governor C V Ananda Bose suddenly removed her as his principal secretary. The Mamata Banerjee government did not approve of the Raj Bhavan move.
Trinamool Congress on Sunday also referred to this. "She is a local, ghorer meye. She has worked efficiently in the departments assigned to her. CM Banerjee has made the right decision in choosing her. We welcome the move. But we are equally curious on what will the Raj Bhavan do now. She was removed from Raj Bhavan in the most insulting manner. Raj Bhavan has a habit of summoning the home secretary at the drop of a hat. So, we are extremely curious whether they do it now, and finds Chakravorty at the other end of the desk."
With Chakravorty at the helm along with Rajeev Kumar, appointed the DGP, the state police directorate now has a completely new leadership team. The Lok Sabha polls are scheduled in 2024.
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