WB Chief Secretary, HK Dwivedi's tenure extended by 6 months

The Chief Secretary of West Bengal, Hari Krishna Dwivedi, has been granted a six-month extension in service as per the state government's request.

The approval from the Central government arrived at the Nabanna state secretariat just hours before Dwivedi's official retirement.

Dwivedi, who was scheduled to retire on Friday, has received the extension after much speculation and opposition from the Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari. Adhikari had personally engaged with his party's central leadership in an attempt to prevent the extension proposal from being cleared.

Hari Krishna Dwivedi, a senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from the 1988 batch, has been a close confidant of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and has held various significant bureaucratic positions in the state. He assumed the role of Chief Secretary in June 2011, succeeding Alapan Bandopadhyay, who currently serves as the chief advisor to the Chief Minister's office.

With the Centre's approval, the state administration has breathed a sigh of relief as the upcoming panchayat elections in West Bengal will proceed with the existing bureaucratic setup. Meanwhile, discussions and deliberations are underway at the state administrative level regarding the appointment of IAS officer Vivek Kumar as the next Chief Secretary.

The tenure extension for Hari Krishna Dwivedi, who has also served as the Home Secretary, has garnered attention due to allegations of working in favor of the ruling party despite concerns about the law and order situation in the state.