Bengal chief secy retires, appointed adviser to Didi

This so-called unilateral order is an unreasoned volte-face and by your own admission, against the interests of the state and its people

KOLKATA: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said she was appointing chief secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay as an adviser for three years effective from Tuesday, after allowing the bureaucrat who was ordered by the central government to report to Delhi, to retire.

The Centre has asked him to join North Block on Tuesday but it cannot force an officer to join it without the permission of the state administration, Banerjee told a press conference.

“The CS got a letter from the Centre asking him to join North Block by tomorrow. This is not a reply to my letter but to the CS. I have not received any reply from it to the letter which I had sent earlier today,” she said.

The central government’s decision is unilateral and unconstitutional, the chief minister claimed.

“We are not relieving him. He has superannuated today, but he will act as the chief adviser to the CM for the next three years,” Banerjee said.

Earlier in the day, Banerjee wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting him to withdraw the Centre’s order recalling the chief secretary, asserting that her government “cannot release, and is not releasing” the top bureaucrat.

In a five-page letter, Banerjee urged the Prime Minister to reconsider the Centre’s decision to recall the chief secretary after giving him a three-month extension.

Banerjee said she was shocked by the Centre’s decision and termed the order as “unilateral”, which was issued “without any prior consultation” with the state government.

“This so-called unilateral order is an unreasoned volte face and by your own admission, against the interests of the state and its people.

“I humbly request you to withdraw, recall, reconsider your decision and rescind the latest so-called order in larger public interest,” Banerjee said.