Kolkata: Bengal chief secretary Manoj Pant, whose was scheduled to retire on Monday, received an extension of six months. Pant is a 1991 batch IAS officer. The department of personnel and training, in charge of appointments of IAS officers, on Monday sent Nabanna its approval for Pant's extension till Dec 31, 2025. The letter stated that the Centre had approved the Bengal govt's proposal for the extension of Pant's tenure as the chief secretary. Nabanna had sent the proposal to Delhi on June 28.
In the recent past, two chief secretaries, H K Dwivedi and BP Gopalika had also received extension. Earlier, in 2011, soon after taking charge as the chief minister in May, Mamata Banerjee had granted three months' extension to Samar Ghosh to continue as the chief secretary. He had earlier served as the district magistrate in Murshidabad and North 24 Parganas and held important portfolios in the state land and land reforms and finance departments.