Bengal govt axes nominated directors and re-employed officials across state bodies
Synopsis
Days after the Trinamool Congress suffered a landslide defeat in the West Bengal Assembly polls, the new state government has moved swiftly to dismantle a patronage network built over 15 years — terminating nominated posts and ending service extensions for retired officials who critics say were kept on to protect political interests.
Key Takeaways
The West Bengal government on 11 May 2025 ordered the immediate termination of nominated directors, members, and chairpersons across state boards and public sector undertakings.
Re-employed and service-extended officers beyond the normal superannuation age of 60 years are also being terminated.
The practice of nominations and re-employments was a hallmark of the Mamata Banerjee -led Trinamool Congress (TMC) government from 2011 to 2026 .
Critics argued the expenditure was unjustifiable when the state had halted fresh recruitment and withheld dearness allowance parity for existing employees.
Economist Abhirup Sarkar and former Chief Secretaries Alapan Bandyopadhyay , H.K.
Dwivedi , and Manoj Pant had already resigned from advisory posts after poll results on 4 May .
The West Bengal government on Monday, 11 May issued a sweeping order terminating the tenures of nominated directors, members, and chairpersons across various boards, organisations, non-statutory bodies, and public sector undertakings under state government departments. The move also ends the re-employment and service extensions of retired officials who had continued in their posts beyond the normal superannuation age of 60 years.
What the Order Says
A Senior Special Secretary to the West Bengal government issued the directive, which reads:
Point of View
Spanning celebrities, intellectuals, and media figures, was always as much about optics as governance. The more consequential question is what happens to the retired bureaucrats and police officers who allegedly helped maintain the previous government's information control. Their removal is overdue on fiscal grounds alone — but the real accountability test lies in whether their tenures are scrutinised, not merely ended.
NationPress
11 May 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What did the West Bengal government order on 11 May 2025?
The West Bengal government issued an order on 11 May 2025 directing all state departments to immediately terminate the tenures of nominated directors, members, and chairpersons of boards, organisations, non-statutory bodies, and public sector undertakings. The order also ended re-employment and service extensions for retired officials who had continued beyond the normal superannuation age of 60 years.
Why were these nominations and re-employments controversial?
Critics — including opposition parties and economic advisors — argued that the nominations were used to reward loyalists of former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and to keep sensitive state government information contained. On the fiscal side, the expenditure was seen as wasteful at a time when the state had stopped fresh permanent recruitment and withheld dearness allowance parity for serving employees.
Who has already resigned from advisory posts following the election results?
Economist Abhirup Sarkar and three former Chief Secretaries of West Bengal — Alapan Bandyopadhyay, H.K. Dwivedi, and Manoj Pant — were among those who resigned from nominated and advisory posts immediately after the West Bengal Assembly poll results were declared on 4 May.
What were the results of the West Bengal Assembly elections?
The West Bengal Assembly poll results declared on 4 May marked a landslide defeat for the Trinamool Congress, ending Mamata Banerjee's government that had been in power since 2011.
How long had the practice of nominations and re-employments been in place?
The practice of nominating intellectuals, celebrities, and media figures to boards and bodies, as well as re-employing or extending the service of retired bureaucrats and police officers, had been a consistent feature of the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government from 2011 to 2026.
