Among the officials to be transferred by Friday, 205 had been serving as Assistant Director for West Bengal Land Reforms Service and 179 as Special Revenue Officer II, according to a senior government official.

The major reshuffle comes weeks after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her displeasure over allegations of illegal occupying of government lands. In the recent past, her office has received such complaints, some of which claim that the character of land has also been altered, The Indian Express has learned.

Last month, during her first administrative meeting after the Lok Sabha polls, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee advocated for “zero tolerance” towards illegal occupying of government land and directed the administration to take immediate measures to “free such land”.

She had claimed that the issue of land encroachment persists in Kolkata and its adjacent areas. “Some people, coming from outside, have started residing here, and after some days, small shops are also set up in the area. The peoples’ representatives are silent. The police are also not taking any action,” the chief minister had said at the meeting, held with departmental secretaries, district magistrates, mayors and senior police officers at the state secretariat.