Calcutta, June 24: The Bengal government will write to the Centre demanding a review of the process through which 36 IAS officers of the 1982 batch from across the country were empanelled for the posts of secretary or its equivalent in the Union government and its various agencies.

Bengal chief secretary Sanjay Mitra, who was eligible for consideration, did not make it to the list, which was uploaded on a central government website last night.

"The state government feels that officers from the Bengal cadre have been discriminated against. Only one officer, Hem Kumar Pande, has been empanelled for the post of secretary at the Centre. The state government will demand a review of the decision," a senior Nabanna official said.

Four officers of the 1982 batch are serving in the state now.

Subesh Das, who had the highest rank among his batchmates in Bengal in the IAS exams, was not considered by the Centre as he would retire in December.

A key criterion for getting empanelled as a secretary or to an equivalent post is that the officer should have at least two years of service left. Another officer, Trilochan Singh, now the secretary to the governor, was not considered because he would retire in December 2016.

"Of the rest, Pande has been empanelled while Mitra has been overlooked. It is a setback for Mitra as well as Mamata Banerjee because the annual confidential report, which is given utmost importance while considering an officer for a higher post, is signed by the chief minister," an official said.

Mitra, who had served in the Prime Minister's Office during the tenure of Manmohan Singh, is set to retire in 2019. Sources said the state government was not happy with his omission from the central list.

According to Nabanna sources, the state was "convinced" that Bengal-cadre officers were being discriminated against.

Recently, P.R. Baviskar, an IAS officer of the 1985 batch, was made additional secretary in Delhi but two other eligible officers from the same batch - Pawan Agarwal and Sumanta Choudhury - were overlooked.

"Bias is apparent in cases of empanelment of both additional secretaries and secretaries. The state would write to the Centre, urging it to review the list of additional secretaries too," an official said.

The decision to write to the Centre seeking central empanelment is contrary to the chief minister's earlier stand of not allowing several officers to go on central deputation in the past four years because of an "acute shortage" of IAS officers in Bengal.

Only 20-odd officers from Bengal are serving at the Centre although according to the quota, the state can send around 74 IAS officers on central deputation.

Mamata's reluctance to send officers on central deputation had drawn sharp criticism from officers themselves as more bureaucrats from Bengal in Delhi would mean more people to lobby for the state's cause.

"The chief minister would write for Mitra only because she wants to send the message that she is beside IAS officers," a retired IAS officer said.

"This is important because she has to face Assembly elections next year and there might be problems if bureaucrats are not happy with her," the officer added.