Kolkata, March 30 – The Election Commission of India (ECI) is likely to announce a second round of reshuffles in the lower levels of the bureaucratic and police administration structures in poll-bound West Bengal this week.
An insider from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of West Bengal said that this second round of reshuffles will also involve block development officers (BDOs), which is the lowest level of the bureaucratic structure, and police inspectors, which is the lowest level in the gazetted police administration structure.
BDOs also act as returning officers (ROs) in a state holding elections. In the case of police inspectors, although this rank is generally a non-gazetted post in most states, West Bengal is one of the seven states that has granted gazetted status to the post.
On Sunday, the ECI had already initiated the first round of reshuffles in the lower levels of the bureaucratic and administrative structures in the state, ordering the transfer of 83 BDOs/ROs and 184 inspector-rank officers in both the West Bengal Police and the Kolkata Police, who had been serving as officers-in-charge or inspectors-in-charge at the police station levels.
Since the announcement of the two-phase polling schedule for West Bengal on March 15, the ECI has periodically issued transfer orders for bureaucrats and police officers at different levels.
The transfer process began with top-ranking bureaucrats such as the Chief Secretary and Home Secretary, and Director Generals and Additional Director Generals in the case of the police.
In the second phase, transfers were carried out for mid-level officers such as District Magistrates in the case of the bureaucracy, and Deputy Inspector Generals, Superintendents, and Deputy Commissioners in the police administration.
The third and final phase of transfers has now begun for the lower levels in the administrative hierarchy, that is, the BDOs in the general administration and Inspectors in the police administration.
The Trinamool Congress leadership, including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has already accused the ECI of resorting to such large-scale transfers of bureaucrats and police personnel at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Last week, a hearing was completed at the Calcutta High Court on a public interest litigation challenging the transfers ordered by the ECI. However, the judgment in the matter has been reserved.
