In one of largest reshuffles, West Bengal transfers 527 officers amid SIR rollout
Kolkata (PTI): The West Bengal government on Monday announced the transfer of over 500 bureaucrats amid the rollout of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.
In one of the largest reshuffles on a single day, 67 IAS and 460 West Bengal Civil Services (Executive) officers were transferred, according to a slew of notifications issued by the Personnel and Administrative Reforms (P&AR) Department.
The transfer notifications were dated October 24, even as they were uploaded on the department's website in batches before and after the announcement of SIR by the Election Commission.
Notifications for transfers of 61 IAS and 145 WBCS (Executive) officers were uploaded during the first half of the day, while another set of orders, notifying the postings of six IAS and 315 WBCS (Executive) officers, was made available shortly after the EC's briefing.
Among the officers transferred were 14 district magistrates (DM), multiple special secretaries, several officers-on-special duty (OSDs) and a bunch of ADMs and SDOs from both IAS and WBCS services.
Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) MD Shashank Sethi was made the new DM of North 24 Parganas, while Murshidabad DM Rajarshi Mitra replaced him.
Kolkata Municipal Corporation's commissioner Dhaval Jain was made the DM of Birbhum, while South 24 Parganas DM Sumit Gupta was posted in his place.
Haldia Development Authority CEO Kontam Sudhir was made the DM of Purulia.
Science and Technology Department Secretary Godala Kiran Kumar was named the divisional commissioner of Medinipur, while Panchayat and Rural Development Department Special Secretary Kuhuk Bhushan was posted as DM of Kalimpong.
New district magistrates were also appointed in Cooch Behar, Murshidabad, Darjeeling, Malda, Jhargram, Purba and Paschim Medinipur, Hooghly and Dakshin Dinajpur.
The officers are expected to play nodal roles in the SIR exercise, and it would become untenable for the state government to make further reshuffles without the authorisation of the EC once the schedule has been announced, an official said.
The opposition BJP shot a complaint letter to the Chief Election Commissioner and demanded the "immediate annulment of the irregular transfers done without ECI approval".
"The West Bengal Government has carried out a mass scale transfer of 235 officers today 27 October 2025, after the announcement of SIR by the ECI on 24 June 2025 vide Order no 23/ERS/2025. In these transfers, 17 DMs, 22 ADMs, 45 SDOs and 151 BDOs are also included, most of whom are will be involved in the SIR, which has already been announced," the complaint letter claimed.
While the BJP alleged that the transfers were an attempt by the Mamata Banerjee government to thwart the upcoming SIR exercise, the ruling TMC called it a mere "routine" exercise.
"CM Mamata Banerjee is sensing trouble for her party once this exercise is successfully completed and a large number of fake voters are deleted from the electoral rolls. She is, hence, trying everything in her hand to disturb the process by making such last-minute bulk transfers," BJP leader Sajal Ghosh alleged.
Rubbishing the accusation, TMC IT cell head Debangshu Bhattacharya said the BJP is "clutching at straws" to level wild allegations.
"Such transfers take place in the government as a routine measure across the year. There's no reason why one should draw a connection between this and the SIR announcement. This is opposition for opposition's sake," he said.
The EC will conduct phase two of the SIR in 12 states and Union Territories, including West Bengal -- where elections will be due early next year, between November and February.
The exercise will begin on November 4 and continue till December 4. The draft electoral rolls will be released on D
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Odisha: Normalcy returns to violence-hit Malkangiri; internet services fully restored
Malkangiri (PTI): Normalcy returned to Odisha’s Malkangiri district on Monday, nearly a week after around 200 villages were damaged in violent clashes in a village, with the district administration fully restoring internet services, a senior official said.
Additional District Magistrate Bedabar Pradhan said internet services, suspended across the district on December 8 to curb the spread of rumours and misinformation following the clashes, were restored after the situation improved.
The suspension had been extended in phases till 12 noon on Monday.
The administration also withdrew prohibitory orders imposed under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita within a 10-km radius of MV-26 village, where arson incidents were reported on December 7 and December 8.
Though the violence was confined to two villages, tension had gripped the entire district, as the incident took the form of a clash between local tribals and Bengali settlers following the recovery of a headless body of a woman on December 4, officials said.
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The violence broke out after residents of Rakhelguda village allegedly set ablaze several houses belonging to Bengali residents, forcing hundreds to flee. The headless body of Lake Podiami (51), a woman from the Koya tribe, was recovered from the banks of the Poteru river on December 4, while her head was found six days later at a location about 15 km away.
Officials said the district administration held several rounds of discussions with representatives of the tribal and Bengali communities, following which both sides agreed to maintain peace.
Relief and rehabilitation work has since been launched at MV-26 village, with preliminary assessment pegging property damage at around Rs 3.8 crore.
A two-member ministerial team headed by Deputy Chief Minister K V Singh Deo visited the affected village, interacted with officials and locals, and submitted a report to the chief minister.
So far, 18 people have been arrested in connection with the violence, the officials said, adding that despite the withdrawal of prohibitory orders and restoration of internet services, security forces, including BSF and CRPF personnel, continue to be deployed to prevent any untoward incident.
On Sunday, Nabarangpur MP Balabhadra Majhi visited MV-26 and neighbouring Rakhelguda villages, and held discussions with members of both communities as part of efforts to rebuild confidence and restore peace.
More than two lakh Bengali-speaking Bangladeshis were rehabilitated by the Centre in Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts in 1968, and they currently reside in 124 villages of Malkangiri.
