A few hours before the Election Commission’s announcement on Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal, the state government carried out a major administrative reshuffle, transferring 17 IAS officers along with several key officials today.

With Assembly elections due next year, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has moved some of the top bureaucrats, including the Commissioner of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and multiple District Magistrates.

In four notifications issued by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Personnel today, a total of 64 officials were shifted. Nabanna sources said the reshuffle had been planned earlier, but was held back due to the festive season.

According to senior administrative officials, once the SIR begins, any transfer will require consultation with the Election Commission of India.

The government rushed through the reshuffle before the poll-related exercise gets underway. KMC Commissioner Dhaval Jain has been posted as district magistrate (DM) of Birbhum, while South 24 Parganas DM Sumit Gupta has been appointed as the new KMC commissioner. Meanwhile, Cooch Behar DM Arvind Kumar Meena takes charge as DM of South 24 Parganas.

HIDCO managing director Shashank Settee has been removed, and Murshidabad DM Rajshree Mitra has been named the new HIDCO MD. Nitin Singhania becomes DM of Murshidabad, replacing Mitra, while Darjeeling DM Preeti Goyal has been shifted to Malda as DM.

North 24 Parganas Additional District Magistrate Manish Mishra takes charge as DM of Cooch Behar. Basirhat ADM Akanksha Bhaskar has been appointed DM of Jhargram.

On the other hand, the current Jhargram DM Sunil Agarwal has been moved as Special Secretary in the North Bengal Development Department. Former Birbhum DM Bidhan Chandra Roy becomes special secretary in the Food and Supplies Department.

Purba Medinipur DM Purnendu Maji has been shifted as special secretary in the urban development department while UR Ismail from the health department has been moved to Purba Medinipur as DM. Rajat Nanda has been shifted from Purulia DM to director, department of tourism.

Apart from these, 10 IAS officers serving as officers on special duty have been reassigned as sub-divisional officers (SDOs). Another 15 officers from the Indian Statistical Service have been posted as ADMs, SDOs and joint secretaries.

Additionally, 22 West Bengal Civil Service (Executive) officers have also been transferred as ADMs across several districts.