Hours after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee skipped a review meeting on Cyclone Yaas with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the appointments committee of the Cabinet attached the State's top bureaucrat to the Centre.
The committee is headed by the Prime Minister.
In an unprecedented order on Friday evening, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) invoked Rule 6(I) of the Indian Administrative Service (cadre) Rules, 1954 to place the services of West Bengal chief secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay with the Government of India.
Rule 6(I) says that "provided that in case of any disagreement, the matter shall be decided by the Central Government and the State Govt shall give effect to the decision of the Central Government."
The order asked the State government to relieve the officer with "immediate effect" and directed him to report to DoPT office at North Block in Delhi by 10 a.m. on May 31.
Mr. Bandyopadhyay who was to retire on May 31 was given three-month extension by the State government.
Earlier in December 2020, the Home Ministry had attached three Indian Police Service (IPS) officers of West Bengal cadre but the State government did not relieve them. The attachment order came after the cavalcade of Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) president J.P Nadda was attacked in Diamond Harbour area. Home ministry is the cadre controlling authority of IPS officers and DoPT is the authority for IAS officers.