Government of West Bengal

This article is about the state government in West Bengal. For the political history of West Bengal, see Politics of West Bengal.

পশ্চিমবঙ্গ সরকার Government of West Bengal
State government
Emblem of West Bengal · Bidhan Sabha
Overview
Established	1 April 1937;87 years ago (1937-04-01) (as Government of Bengal)
State	Republic of India
Leader	Chief Minister (Mamata Banerjee)
Appointed by	Governor (C. V. Ananda Bose) on the advice of the chief minister
Main organ	Council of Ministers
Ministries	53 ministries
Responsible to	Bidhan Sabha
Annual budget	₹ 370,000 crore (US$43 billion) (2024–25)
Headquarters	Nabanna, Howrah
Website	https://wb.gov.in/

The Government of West Bengal, also known as the West BengalGovernment, is the principal administrative authority of the Indian state of West Bengal, created by the National Constitution as the state's legislative, executive and judicial authority. ^[1] The Governor acts as the head of state and is the highest nominal authority of the state power, however, it is the Chief Minister who is the chief executive authority and head of government.

The Chief Minister is the head of government and is vested with most of the executive powers. Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, houses the West Bengal Legislative Assembly. The temporary secretariat is located in the Nabanna building in the district of Howrah, adjacent to the state capital. The Calcutta High Court is located in Kolkata, which has jurisdiction over the whole of West Bengal and the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The present Legislative Assembly of West Bengal is unicameral, consisting of 294 Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). ^[2] Including one nominated from the Anglo-Indian community it was 295 before is abolition. Its term is 5 years, unless sooner dissolved.

The current chief minister is Mamata Banerjee, who assumed the office on 20 May 2011. She is the founder and leader of the Trinamool Congress party, which won 184 seats (out of 294) in the 2011 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, 211 seats (out of 294) in the 2016 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election and 215 seats (out of 294) in the 2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election.

Head Leaders

House	Leader	Portrait	Since
Constitutional Posts
Governor of West Bengal	C. V. Ananda Bose		23 November 2022
Chief Minister of West Bengal	Mamata Banerjee		20 May 2011
Speaker of the House West Bengal Legislative Assembly	Biman Banerjee		30 May 2011
Deputy Speaker of the House West Bengal Legislative Assembly	Dr. Asish Banerjee		2 July 2021
Leader of the House West Bengal Legislative Assembly	Mamata Banerjee		5 May 2021
Deputy Leader of the House West Bengal Legislative Assembly	Sovandeb Chattopadhyay		28 July 2022
Leader of the Opposition West Bengal Legislative Assembly	Suvendu Adhikari		10 May 2021
Deputy Leader of the Opposition West Bengal Legislative Assembly	Mihir Goswami		10 May 2021
Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court	T. S. Sivagnanam		11 May 2023
Chief Secretary of West Bengal	Dr. Manoj Pant		1 September 2024

History

On 18 January 1862, under the Indian Councils Act of 1861, a 12-member Legislative Council for Bengal was founded by the Governor-General of India with the Lt Governor of Bengal and some nominated members. The strength of this council was gradually increased by subsequent acts. Under the Indian Councils Act of 1892, the maximum strength of the council was increased to 20 members out of which seven members were to be elected. After the Indian Councils Act of 1909, the number raised to 50 members. ^[2]

Organization

• The West Bengal government is divided into different ministries.

Departments

1	Agricultural Marketing
2	Agriculture
3	Animal Resources Development
4	Backward Classes Welfare
5	Consumer Affairs
6	Co-operation
7	Correctional Administration
8	Disaster Management and Civil Defence
9	Environment
10	Finance
11	Fire and Emergency Services
12	Fisheries
13	Food and Supplies
14	Food Processing Industries and Horticulture
15	Forests
16	GTA
17	Health and Family Welfare
18	Higher Education
19	Home and Hill Affairs
20	Housing
21	Industry, Commerce and Enterprises
22	Information & Cultural Affairs
23	Information Technology and Electronics
24	Irrigation and Waterways
25	Judicial
26	Labour
27	Land and Land Reforms and Refugee Relief and Rehabilitation
28	Law
29	Mass Education Extension and Library Services
30	Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Textiles
31	Minority Affairs and Madrasah Education
32	Non-Conventional and Renewable Energy Sources
33	North Bengal Development
34	Panchayats and Rural Development
35	Parliamentary Affairs
36	Paschimanchal Unnayan Affairs
37	Personnel and Administrative Reforms
38	Planning and Statistics
39	Power
40	Programme Monitoring
41	Public Enterprises and Industrial Reconstruction
42	Public Health Engineering
43	Public Works
44	School Education
45	Science and Technology and Biotechnology
46	Self Help Group and Self Employment
47	Sundarban Affairs
48	Technical Education, Training & Skill Development
49	Tourism
50	Liquor
51	Tribal Development
52	Urban Development and Municipal Affairs
53	Water resources Investigation and Development
54	Women and Child Development and Social Welfare
55	Youth Services and Sports

^[3]

Department and Secretaries

Serial	Department	Secretary
1	Chief Secretary	Chief Secretary, Dr. Manoj Pant, IAS
2	Home and Hill Affairs	Additional Chief Secretary, Nandini Chakravorty, IAS
3	Agriculture	Principal Secretary, Onkar Singh Meena, IAS
4	Agricultural Marketing	Principal Secretary (additional charge), Onkar Singh Meena, IAS
5	Animal Resources Development	Additional Chief Secretary (additional charge), Vivek Kumar, IAS
6	Backward Classes Welfare	Secretary, Sanjay Bansal, IAS
7	Consumer Affairs	Principal Secretary, Neelam Meena, IAS
8	Co-operation	Additional Chief Secretary, Dr. Krishna Gupta, IAS
9	Correctional Administration	Secretary (additional charge), Jagdish Prasad Meena, IAS
10	Disaster Management and Civil Defence	Additional Chief Secretary (additional charge), Manoj Kumar Agarwal, IAS
11	Environment	Principal Secretary (additional charge), Rajesh Kumar, IAS
12	Finance	Special Secretary, Goutam Kumar Ghosh, IAS
13	Fire and Emergency Services	Principal Secretary, Khalil Ahmed, IAS
14	Fisheries	Secretary, Roshni Sen, IAS
15	Food and Supplies	Special Secretary, Anindya Mitra, IAS
16	Food Processing Industries and Horticulture	Principal Secretary, Khalil Ahmed, IAS
17	Forests	Additional Chief Secretary (additional charge), Manoj Kumar Agarwal, IAS
18	GTA	Principal Secretary (additional charge), Dushyant Nariala, IAS
19	Health and Family Welfare	Principal Secretary, Narayan Swaroop Nigam, IAS
20	Higher Education	Principal Secretary, (additional charge) Binod Kumar, IAS
21	Housing	Principal Secretary, Rajesh Kumar Sinha, IAS
22	Industry, Commerce and Enterprises	Secretary, Vandana Yadav, IAS
23	Information and Cultural Affairs	Secretary, Santanu Basu, IAS
24	Information Technology and Electronics	Joint Secretary, Sumant Sahay, IAS
25	Irrigation and Waterways	Principal Secretary, Manish Jain, IAS
26	Judicial	Principal Secretary, Siddhartha Kanjilal, WBJS
27	Labour	Secretary, Avanindra Singh, IAS
28	Land and Land Reforms & Refugee Relief and Rehabilitation	Additional Chief Secretary, Vivek Kumar, IAS
29	Law	Principal Secretary, Pradip Kumar Panja, WBJS
30	Mass Education Extension and Library Services	Special Secretary, Anshul Gupta, IAS
31	Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises and Textiles	Principal Secretary, Rajesh Pandey, IAS
32	Minority Affairs and Madrasah Education	Secretary (additional charge), P. B. Salim, IAS
33	North Bengal Development	Additional Chief Secretary, Dushyant Nariala, IAS
34	Non-Conventional and Renewable Energy Sources	Additional Chief Secretary, Barun Kumar Ray, IAS
35	Panchayats and Rural Development	Secretary, Dr. P. Ulaganathan
36	Parliamentary Affairs	Principal Secretary, (additional charge), Nandini Chakravorty, IAS
37	Pashimanchal Unnayan Affairs	Secretary, Dr. Rashmi Kamal, IAS
38	Personnel and Administrative Reforms	Secretary, Jagdish Prasad Meena, IAS
39	Planning and Statistics	Additional Chief Secretary (additional charge), Prabhat Kumar Mishra, IAS
40	Programme Monitoring	Secretary, Dr. P. B. Salim, IAS
41	Power	Secretary (additional charge), Santanu Basu, IAS
42	Public Health Engineering	Principal Secretary, Surendra Gupta, IAS
43	Public Works	Secretary, Antara Acharya, IAS
44	Public Enterprises and Industrial Reconstruction	Secretary, Smita Pandey, IAS
45	School Education	Principal Secretary, Binod Kumar, IAS
46	Science and Technology and Bio-technology	Additional Chief Secretary, Dr. Subrata Gupta, IAS
47	Self Help Group and Self Employment	Principal Secretary, Dr. Ravi Inder Singh, IAS
48	Sundarban Affairs	Additional Chief Secretary, Atri Bhattacharya, IAS
49	Technical Education, Training & Skill Development	Additional Chief Secretary, Anoop Kumar Aggarwal, IAS
50	Tourism	Principal Secretary, (additional charge), Nandini Chakravorty, IAS
51	Transport	Secretary, Dr. Saumitra Mohan, IAS
52	Tribal Development	Principal Secretary, Choten Dhendup Lama, IAS
53	Urban Development and Municipal Affairs	Secretary, Md. Ghulam Ali Ansari, IAS
54	Water Resources Investigation and Development	Principal Secretary, (additional charge), Manish Jain, IAS
55	Women and Child Development and Social Welfare	Principal Secretary, Sanghamitra Ghosh, IAS
56	Youth Services and Sports	Principal Secretary, Rajesh Kumar Sinha, IAS

^[4]

Council of Ministers

Main articles: West Bengal Council of Ministers and Third Banerjee ministry

S.No	Name [5]	Portrait	Constituency	Assumed office [6]	Department	Party
1	Mamata Banerjee (Chief Minister)		Bhabanipur	5 May 2021	Home & Hill Affairs Personnel & Administration Health and Family Welfare Land and Land Reforms Planning & Statistics Program Implementation Refugee and Rehabilitation Information & Cultural Affairs Minority Affairs and Madrasah Education		TMC
Cabinet Ministers
2	Bankim Chandra Hazra		Sagar	10 May 2021	Sundarban Affairs		TMC
3	Manas Bhunia		Sabang	10 May 2021	Water Resources Investigation and Development Irrigation and Waterways		TMC
4	Snehasis Chakraborty		Jangipara	3 August 2022	Transport		TMC
5	Moloy Ghatak		Asansol Uttar	10 May 2021	Law, Judiacial Public Works		TMC
6	Aroop Biswas		Tollyganj	10 May 2021	Power Youth Affairs and Sports Housing		TMC
7	Rathin Ghosh		Madhyamgram	10 May 2021	Food and Supplies Department		TMC
8	Firhad Hakim		Kolkata Port	10 May 2021	Urban Development & Municipal Affairs		TMC
9	Chandranath Sinha		Bolpur	10 May 2021	Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Textiles Correctional Administration		TMC
10	Sovandeb Chattopadhyay		Khardaha	10 May 2021	Parliamentary Affairs Agriculture		TMC
11	Bratya Basu		Dum Dum	10 May 2021	School and Higher Education		TMC
12	Pulak Roy		Uluberia Dakshin	10 May 2021	Public Health Engineering		TMC
13	Shashi Panja		Shyampukur	10 May 2021	Women and Child Development and Social Welfare		TMC
14	Biplab Mitra		Harirampur	10 May 2021	Agricultural Marketing		TMC
15	Javed Ahmed Khan		Kasba	10 May 2021	Disaster Management and Civil Defence		TMC
16	Swapan Debnath		Purbasthali Dakshin	10 May 2021	Animal Resources Development		TMC
17	Siddiqullah Chowdhury		Manteswar	10 May 2021	Mass Education Extension and Library Services		TMC
18	Udayan Guha		Dinhata	3 August 2022	North Bengal Development		TMC
19	Babul Supriyo		Ballygunge	3 August 2022	Information Technology and Electronics Public Enterprises and Industrial Reconstruction		TMC
20	Pradip Mazumdar		Durgapur Purba	3 August 2022	Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Co-operatives		TMC
21	Md. Ghulam Rabbani		Goalpokhar	7 August 2024	Non-Conventional and Renewable Energy Sources		TMC

References

Citations

1. "West Bengal (state)". Indian Government. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
2. "The Parliament of West Bengal, India". cpahq.org. Archived from the original on 16 February 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
3. "Departments". Government of West Bengal.
4. "Secretaries". Government of West Bengal.
5. Anupam Mishra Suryagni Roy (9 May 2021). "43 TMC leaders, including 17 new faces, to be sworn in as ministers in West Bengal cabinet on Monday". India Today. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
6. "Mamata's list of ministers features 17 new faces, including Manoj Tiwari". The Indian Express. 9 May 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.

Sources

• "West Bengal Government Publications". New Administrative Building at Nabanna. wbxpress.com. Retrieved 28 October 2006.
• "West Bengal Legislative Assembly". Legislative Bodies in India. National Informatics Centre. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2006.
• "Election Database". Election Commission of India. Archived from the original on 18 August 2006. Retrieved 26 August 2006.
• "Council of Ministers in West Bengal, 2016". West Bengal Govt. Orders. Retrieved 16 August 2012.

External links

• Official website