When former West Bengal Chief Secretary Rajiv Sinha was the chairman of the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) at the end of September, he joined the club of retired officers running the state.
Mr. Sinha, who retired from the IAS at the time, was given a three-year term. His role is crucial to the state’s economy as WBIDC is the government’s nodal agency for the industry.
Mr. Sinha is one of the four retired civil servants on whom Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee trusts — the other three officers are the 70-year-old former CSS (central secretariat service) officer Gautam Sanyal, IPS officers Surajit Kar Purakayastha ( 63 ) and Rina Mitra ( 61 ) .
Of the four, Sanyal is the chief minister’s closest aide. The 70-year-old had retired from the CSS in 2011 but at the time was serving as the secretary to the chief minister who had just taken over in the state.
In June 2015, Mamata re-designated Sanyal as the principal secretary to the CM, the senior-most position in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO). The position, which he has been holding for the past five years, is essentially a cadre post and reserved for IAS officers. Sanyal is the only officer in the country who holds the post despite not being an IAS officer.
For former DGP Purakayastha, who retired in 2018, the CM a new post, the State Security Advisor (SSA), in May that year. Designed along the lines of the national security adviser (NSA), the SSA has been equipped with sweeping powers over security and law-enforcement agencies. Purakayastha is the only SSA in the country and he directly reports to the chief minister.
Banerjee made another exception for former IPS officer Rina Mitra who retired as the special secretary (internal security), G overnment of India, in 2019. In February 2019, Mitra was as the principal advisor to the chief minister for internal security.
While her role was not defined in the order that was issued last year, sources in the government say Mitra supervises several security agencies in the state.
These are all ‘exclusive posts’ created for ‘expert officers’, said a top IAS officer while explaining such appointments. “It is a government’s discretion over what posts it wants to create,” he added. “But these are unprecedented instances that happened only in Bengal. But under Mamata Banerjee, experts do not retire.”
Subrata Mukherjee, one of Mamata’s oldest cabinet colleagues and the state’s Panchayat and rural development minister, insists that the government has done nothing wrong.
“Creation of posts depend on the government. It is not defined in law and not barred by the rulebook,” he said. “There are some efficient bureaucrats, who may have retired, but their faculties are strong. They are physically fit. Mamata Banerjee relies on their expertise. It is her decision whom she wants to retain. She decides on the assignment for the particular officer. It is the chief minister’s call.
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