Kolkata, March 30 A second round of reshuffle in the lowest levels of the bureaucratic and police administration pyramids in poll-bound West Bengal is likely to be announced by the Election Commission of India (ECI) this week.
An insider from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, said that this second round of reshuffles will also be at the level of block development officers (BDOs), which is the lowest level of the bureaucratic pyramid, and inspectors of police, which is the lowest level in the gazetted police administration pyramid.
The BDOs also act as the returning officers (ROs) in a poll-bound state. In the case of police inspectors, although in most states this rank is a non-gazetted post, West Bengal is one of the seven states which has accorded gazetted status to the post.
Already on Sunday, the first round of reshuffle in the lowest levels of bureaucratic and administrative pyramids in the state was initiated by the ECI, which ordered the transfer of 83 BDOs/ROs and 184 inspector-ranking officers in both West Bengal Police and Kolkata Police, who had been operating as either 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 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.
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