Finally, state Chief Secretary (CS) Harikrishna Dwivedi gets six months’ extension on Monday ending month-long speculations on his retirement taking rounds in the corridors of power at Nabanna.

Dwivedi, an IAS of 1988 batch, was scheduled to retire on 30th of this month. He will continue till 31 December following his extension.

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The Statesman on 13 June had carried a report saying, “The state chief secretary HK Dwivedi, who is scheduled to retire on 30th of this month, may get a six months extension.”

With this extension in the service the state home secretary (HS) and an IAS of 1989-batch, B P Gopalika, who was the main contender to replace Dwivedi might have a faint chance to become the CS, the most coveted post in bureaucracy in the state, as he is retiring in April.

Usually, HS is made CS when his/her predecessor retires. The Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions controlled by the Prime Minister approved Mr Dwivedi’s extension on 28 June and Nabanna received the approval letter on Monday.

Requesting anonymity, the sources said that the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had sent a letter to the DoPT couple of months ago requesting Dwivei’s extension for six months.

A state government officer close to Mr Dwivedi said, “The chief minister had sent a letter to the DoPT during April but the green signal from the concerned ministry headed by the PM came on the last day of his retirement on 30 June.”

“The chief minister wants the panchayat elections scheduled on 8 July in the state to be held under administrative supervision of Dwivedi as chief secretary. It would be a little difficult for a new chief secretary to get all administrative works in order taking over charge of his new assignment hardly one week ahead of the rural body polls,” he felt on condition of anonymity.

A senior bureaucrat felt that Dwivedi’s extension is significant in the backdrop of the AAP government’s proposal to extend service period of the Punjab CS was denied by the PMO.

According to some political analysts, Prime Minister Narandra Modi responded to Banerjee’s proposal for Dwivedi’s extension ignoring strong opposition from Suvendu Adhikary, BJP MLA and Leader of Opposition.

Adhikary had strongly opposed Dwivedi’s extension allegedly during his meeting with the Union Home Minister Amit Shah on several occasions several times. He had also levelled serious charges against Dwivedi for drawing house rent allowance (HRA) in lakhs of rupees despite staying in an official bungalow of CS in the city.

Mamata had persuaded Samar Ghosh, the then CS and a 1982 batch, to continue in the post for another six months after his retirement on 31 March in 2012, one year before her party Trinamool Congress came to power in Bengal in 2011. The DoPT had given a six months extension to Ghosh.