In a significant development, the West Bengal government on Wednesday (December 31, 2025) appointed former Chief Secretary Manoj Pant (Retd. IAS:1991:WB) as Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, in the rank of Chief Secretary.
The state government had sought a further six-month extension for Pant from the Union government; however, the proposal was not finally cleared by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), the cadre-controlling authority for All India Services officers. Following this, the state government appointed Nandini Chakraborty (IAS:1994:WB) as the new Chief Secretary and posted Pant to the Chief Minister’s Office.
Notably, Pant was originally due to retire in June 2025 but had already been granted a six-month extension, which concluded on December 31, 2025.


















