Mamata Banerjee to PM Modi: not releasing Alapan Bandopadhyay

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the state chief secretary Alapan Bandopadhyay cannot be released from the state. Bandopadhyay, an IAS officer of 1987 batch, was asked by the Centre, to report to the DoPT in North Block on Monday, May 31. The order was issued on Friday, hours after a row between PM Modi and Mamata Banerjee over attending a meeting in Bengal’s Kalaikunda to review the situation in Cyclone Yaas-ravaged Bengal districts.

Banerjee reacted sharply to the order on Saturday, saying the Centre should not insult officers from Bengal. She appealed to the Centre to “withdraw” the order, adding that the CS, who was due to retire on May 31, had been offered three months of additional service (with the Centre’s permission) to handle the COVID-19 and Yaas-ravaged situation in the state.

On Monday, Banerjee, in her letter to the PM has written that she is “shocked” and “stunned” by the “unilateral order” asking the CS to report to the Centre. An order for transfer and/or deputation for government service officers is done with the consent of the officer as well as by the Centre and the state together. That is the usual procedure followed across the country. However, for Bandopadhyay, who was to work as chief secretary for an additional three months due to the unusual situation in Bengal, the order was sudden.

Banerjee in her letter to the PM wrote: “The government of Bengal cannot release, and is not releasing, its Chief Secretary at this critical hour, on the basis of our understanding that the earlier order of extension, issued after lawful consultation in accordance with applicable laws, remains operational and valid.”