West Bengal govt appoints Rajeev Kumar as IT dept principal secy

With this new posting, Kumar will replace Debasish Sen who was holding additional charges of the department as the additional Chief Secretary.

The West Bengal government has appointed former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar as the Principal Secretary of the Information Technology Department.

In an order issued on Thursday, the IPS officer was given the new posting, to which IAS officers are normally appointed. Kumar was posted as the Additional DG of State of CID. With this new posting, Kumar will replace Debasish Sen who was holding additional charges of the department as the additional Chief Secretary. Sen will now be the CMD of the West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (HIDCO) with additional charge of Nabadiganta Industrial Township Authority as its chairman.

While many have been raising eyebrows over Kumar’s new appointment, some of the government officials claimed it was not the first time that an IPS officer has been given posting outside his cadre.

“Even earlier, an IPS officer was posted as the Principal Secretary Correctional Administration. In Telengana, many such posts are held by IPS officers in several departments, including Transport, Excise and Drug Control. There are provisions available under which non-cadre posting is possible,” said an IPS officer who did not wish to be named.
Besides Kumar, four other officers — all IAS cadre — have been given new posting under this notification.