Alapan Bandopadhyay retires, appointed chief advisor to CM

West Bengal chief secretary Alapan Bandopadhyay retired from service today. His date of superannuation was today, and he chose to not accept the extension of three months offered to him by the state government with clearance from the Centre. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced this at the state administrative headquarters Nabanna. He has been appointed chief advisor to the Bengal chief minister for a three-year term. The new chief secretary will be H.K. Dwivedi and the new home secretary will be B.P Gopalika.

The decision of Bandopadhyay’s retirement comes in the middle of a row between the CM of Bengal and PM Modi over attending a review meeting of Cyclone Yaas impact on some Bengal districts. Hours after the “confusion” on the said meeting on Friday, the Centre sent a letter to the Bengal government stating that Bandopadhyay should report to the DoPT in Delhi’s North Block on May 31 at 10 AM. A few weeks earlier, the Centre had cleared the Bengal government’s appeal to extend Alapan Bandopadhyay’s service by three months for the crucial work of handling the COVID-19 crisis and the impact of Cyclone Yaas on some Bengal districts.

However, Bandopadhyay is said to have expressed his wish to retire today. Announcing this, Mamata Banerjee said she had agreed to it. She also appealed to IAS and IPS associations and state governments of Opposition political parties to oppose the Centre’s decisions which she said were to “bully, harass and embarrass” government officers. “It is better that he works for the state for the work for which we had sought an extension for his services,” Banerjee said. “And so, he will work for three years, not three months,” she added.