Kolkata . Former West Bengal Chief Secretary Nandini Chakraborty has been entrusted with an important responsibility in the BJP-ruled state government led by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. Chakraborty was removed from his post by the Election Commission of India after the announcement of the dates of the recently concluded state assembly elections. A source in the present Nabanna-based state secretariat said Chakraborty has been retained in her existing post of “Principal Coordinator of Development Works”. This post is directly under the Chief Minister’s Office but has been assigned special and distinct responsibilities. According to sources, Chakraborty’s first task as “Principal Coordinator of Development Works” will be to smoothly complete the process of transfer of land to the Border Security Force for installation of barbed wire fencing along the international border with Bangladesh in the state.
It is noteworthy that in the first meeting of the state cabinet led by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on May 11, the first proposal to complete the process of transferring land to BSF for this purpose within the next 45 days was passed.
“Given Chakraborty’s administrative experience in important departments of the state government, especially the Home Department and later as Chief Secretary, the new state cabinet considered her the most suitable person for this important responsibility. As the ‘Principal Coordinator of Development Works’, she will also oversee the process of implementation of centrally sponsored development projects in the state,” the source said.
Chakraborty, an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the West Bengal cadre and a close confidant of former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, was the first woman Chief Secretary of the state.
However, his tenure in this post was very short and lasted only two months as he was removed from the post by the Election Commission on March 15, hours after Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar announced the election dates.
A graduate in Political Science from the prestigious Lady Brabourne College, Kolkata and a Masters from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Chakraborty has held several important positions in the state government. These include State Home Secretary, Information and Cultural Affairs Secretary and former Governor of West Bengal C.V. Anand Bose’s responsibilities included those of a secretary.
There was controversy over her appointment as the Chief Secretary of the state in January as this appointment was done ignoring the seniority of many senior IAS officers.
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