Aug. 10: The government today transferred the district magistrates of all six north Bengal districts and four south Bengal districts.
Officials said the transfers of all the north Bengal DMs was significant as Mamata Banerjee had announced major projects for the region, including setting up of her secretariat, strengthening the North Bengal Development Council and establishing the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA).
The state government is also working on a plan to bifurcate some districts, including Jalpaiguri, where a new set of DMs will have a key role. A committee is examining the possibility of including the Gorkha-dominated areas of the Dooars and the Terai in the GTA.
Birbhum DM Saumitra Mohan has been transferred to Darjeeling, replacing P.M.K. Gandhi, who has been sent to Cooch Behar. S. Mahapatra has been shifted from Cooch Behar to Jalpaiguri. The DMs of Jalpaiguri, North and South Dinajpur haven’t yet got assignments.
P.N. Bhutia, the Siliguri municipal commissioner, will become the North Dinajpur DM while D.D. Goswami, the director of the West Bengal State Electricity Development Corporation Limited, has been made the South Dinajpur DM. Rajesh Sinha, the Malda DM, has been made director of the state marketing board. East Midnapore DM Archana has been given charge of Malda.
“The chief minister wanted new DMs for Darjeeling, which is set to see a major administrative change, and Jalpaiguri, which could be bifurcated,” an official said. “But there is no reason to believe that any of these district magistrates are being penalised. They are simply being given assignments and districts where they can play a more efficient role.”
Archana will be replaced by R. Kumar, who was on study leave. Nadia DM S. Bansal has been transferred to North 24-Parganas. Bansal has replaced Vinod Kumar, who has been made textile commissioner. The CEO of the Asansol-Durgapur Development Authority, A. Chandra, will be the new Nadia DM. J.P. Meena, the CEO of the Siliguri-Jalpaiguri Development Authority, has been made Birbhum DM.
