West Bengal Govt Transfers 17 IAS Officers in Major Bureaucratic Reshuffle; Ravi Agarwal Appointed Bidhannagar Commissioner
The Government of West Bengal has carried out a major bureaucratic reshuffle involving 17 Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers across key administrative and departmental positions in the state.
The transfer orders were issued by the Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department under the newly formed government led by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. Officials described the reshuffle as one of the first major administrative exercises undertaken by the new BJP-led government after assuming office in West Bengal.
According to sources at Nabanna, the state secretariat, the reshuffle is aimed at strengthening governance, improving departmental coordination and accelerating administrative functioning at both the state and district levels.
Ravi Agarwal Appointed Bidhannagar Municipal Commissioner
One of the most important appointments in the reshuffle is that of IAS officer Ravi Agarwal, a 2017-batch West Bengal cadre officer, who has been appointed Commissioner of the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation.
Prior to the transfer, Ravi Agarwal was serving as Additional District Magistrate (ADM) of Purulia district.
He replaces Sujoy Sarkar, a 2010-batch officer who has now been transferred as Commissioner of the Textiles and Sericulture Department and Managing Director of state-run textile organisation Tantuja.
Hindole Dutta Posted to Asansol Municipal Corporation
IAS officer Hindole Dutta, who was earlier serving as Associate Professor at the Netaji Subhash Administrative Training Institute, has been appointed Commissioner of the Asansol Municipal Corporation.
The appointment is seen as part of the government’s effort to strengthen urban administration and municipal governance in important industrial and urban centres of the state.
Nitin Singhania Gets Multiple Responsibilities
Senior IAS officer Nitin Singhania, who was serving as Chief Executive Officer of the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA), has been transferred as Senior Special Secretary in the Home and Hill Affairs Department.
Apart from his new departmental role, he has also been entrusted with additional responsibilities as:
Member Secretary of the Centre of Excellence in Public Management
Course Director of the Satyendranath Tagore Civil Services Study Centre
Ansar Shaikh Shifted to West Midnapore
IAS officer Shaikh Ansar Ahmad, who was serving as Additional District Magistrate in Malda, has now been transferred as Additional District Magistrate of West Midnapore.
The transfer comes amid increased public attention surrounding the officer following recent developments linked to an Enforcement Directorate probe in West Bengal.
Large-Scale ADM-Level Transfers Across Districts
The reshuffle also involved several ADM-rank officers being shifted across districts and departments.
IAS officer Dhiman Barai has been transferred from East Burdwan and posted as Special Secretary in the Technical Education, Training and Skill Development Department.
Priyadarshini S. has been shifted from ADM Howrah to Special Secretary in the Consumer Affairs Department.
Prashant Raj Shukla has been transferred from South 24 Parganas to Bankura as ADM, while Suman Saurabh Mohanti has been moved from North Dinajpur to West Burdwan.
IAS officer Rajesh has been shifted from South Dinajpur to Jalpaiguri as ADM.
Similarly, Lakshmana Perumal R. has been transferred from Bankura to Jhargram as ADM, while Sinjan Shekhar has been moved from Jalpaiguri to Howrah.
Archana P. Wankhede has been transferred from Nadia to East Midnapore, and Manjeet Kumar Yadav has been shifted from Bankura to South 24 Parganas.
Additionally, Saurav Pandey has been moved from North Dinajpur to West Midnapore, while Ekam J. Singh has been transferred from West Midnapore to Bankura.
Rajat Nanda Gets Additional Charge
IAS officer Rajat Nanda has been assigned additional charge as Joint Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat and Director of the Information and Cultural Affairs Department alongside his current responsibilities in the Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department.
Officials stated that the reshuffle forms part of a broader administrative reset being undertaken by the new state government to improve governance efficiency, strengthen district administration and align bureaucratic functioning with the policy priorities of the new political leadership in West Bengal.
