Nandini Chakravorty was on Wednesday appointed as the chief secretary of West Bengal, becoming the first woman to hold the post in the state, a senior official said.

Chakravorty replaced Manoj Pant, who was scheduled to assume superannuation on 30 June but was granted a six-month extension from 1 July to 31 December.

Pant was appointed as the principal secretary to the chief minister in the rank of chief secretary, he said.

Chakravorty, who was the state's home secretary, was replaced by Jagdish Prasad Meena, the official added.

In separate notifications, the state government assigned additional responsibilities to several senior IAS officers.

Sundarban Affairs department's additional chief secretary Atri Bhattacharya was entrusted with the charge of the director general of the Netaji Subhas Administrative Training Institute.

Non-Conventional and Renewable Energy Sources department's additional chief secretary Barun Kumar Ray will also look after the tourism department, one of the notifications said.

Public Health Engineering department's principal secretary Surendra Gupta was given the additional charge of divisional commissioner of the Presidency Division.

North Bengal Development department's additional chief secretary Dushyant Nariala was also assigned to the charge of principal secretary, GTA, along with the Correctional Administration department, another notification said.