Bengal gets 1st woman chief secy in Nandini Chakravorty
Times of India | 1 January 2026
Kolkata: Nandini Chakravorty, a 1994-batch IAS officer, became Bengal's first woman chief secretary on Wednesday. She succeeds Manoj Pant, who retired on Dec 31. Jagdeesh Prasad Meena, a 2004-batch officer will succeed Chakravorty as home secretary. Pant will now be CM Mamata Banerjee's principal secretary.
An alumna of Kolkata's Lady Brabourne College, Chakravorty did her schooling at Sacred Heart School in Ranchi. She completed her postgraduate degree from Jawaharlal Nehru University in 1993 and cleared her UPSC exam the same year.
Bengal govt's appointment orders late on Wednesday capped weeks of intense speculation on Nabanna corridors over Pant's successor going into an election year.
An additional chief secretary-ranked officer, Chakravorty was in the running for Bengal's top bureaucrat post. On her path to become chief secretary, Chakravorty superseded five batches and seven IAS officers senior to her.
Chakravorty is a recipient of University Merit Scholarship (1990) from Calcutta University, UGC JRF and eligibility for lectureship (1992) and Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Award (1993).
Her first posting in Bengal was as East Midnapore's assistant magistrate in 1995. She was Howrah district magistrate from Feb 2005 to Jan 2007. She went on to hold multiple key posts, including managing director and CEO of West Bengal Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (WBIIDC).
In Nov 2012, she became information and cultural affairs secretary and then went on to work in multiple departments as secretary. She was principal secretary to the governor from Aug 2022 to Feb 2023. She was appointed Bengal home secretary on Dec 31, 2023.
Meanwhile, with Jagdeesh Prasad Meena, a secretary-rank officer, being appointed home secretary, the Bengal govt has broken with its convention of appointing an additional chief secretary-rank officer in the post. The only exception to this was in 2012 when Basudev Banerjee, a principal secretary at the time, was chosen to lead the home department.
Other changes included — Barun Kumar Ray, a 1992-batch IAS officer, who is additional chief secretary of non-conventional and renewable energy department, was given additional charge of tourism.
Dushyant Nariala, a 1993-batch IAS officer, the additional chief secretary of North Bengal development department and GTA, was given additional charge of the jail department.
Surendra Gupta, a 1997-batch IAS officer who is the principal secretary of public health engineering, was given additional charge as divisional commissioner, presidency division.