The Government of West Bengal, also known as the West Bengal Government, 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.
| Government of West Bengal | |
|---|---|
.svg) Emblem version used by the Government of West Bengal as of July 2024 | |
| Overview | |
| Established | 1 April 1937 (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 | Legislative Assembly of West Bengal |
| Annual budget | ₹3.046 trillion |
| Headquarters | Nabanna, Howrah |
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
edit| House | Leader | Portrait | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| Constitutional Posts | |||
| Governor of West Bengal | C. V. Ananda Bose | 
|
23 November 2022 |
| Chief Minister of West Bengal | Mamata Banerjee | _(cropped).JPG)
|
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 | .jpg)
|
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
editOn 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
edit- The West Bengal government is divided into different ministries.
Departments
edit| 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 | Health and Family Welfare |
| 17 | Higher Education |
| 18 | Home and Hill Affairs |
| 19 | Housing |
| 20 | Industry, Commerce and Enterprises |
| 21 | Information & Cultural Affairs |
| 22 | Information Technology and Electronics |
| 23 | Irrigation and Waterways |
| 24 | Judicial |
| 25 | Labour |
| 26 | Land and Land Reforms and Refugee Relief and Rehabilitation |
| 27 | Law |
| 28 | Mass Education Extension and Library Services |
| 29 | Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Textiles |
| 30 | Minority Affairs and Madrasah Education |
| 31 | Non-Conventional and Renewable Energy Sources |
| 32 | North Bengal Development |
| 33 | Panchayats and Rural Development |
| 34 | Parliamentary Affairs |
| 35 | Paschimanchal Unnayan Affairs |
| 36 | Personnel and Administrative Reforms |
| 37 | Planning and Statistics |
| 38 | Power |
| 39 | Programme Monitoring |
| 40 | Public Enterprises and Industrial Reconstruction |
| 41 | Public Health Engineering |
| 42 | Public Works |
| 43 | School Education |
| 44 | Science and Technology and Biotechnology |
| 45 | Self Help Group and Self Employment |
| 46 | Sundarban Affairs |
| 47 | Technical Education, Training & Skill Development |
| 48 | Tourism |
| 49 | Liquor |
| 50 | Tribal Development |
| 51 | Urban Development and Municipal Affairs |
| 52 | Water resources Investigation and Development |
| 53 | Women and Child Development and Social Welfare |
| 54 | Youth Services and Sports |
Department and Secretaries
edit| 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, Dushyant Nariala, IAS |
| 11 | Environment | Principal Secretary (additional charge), Rajesh Kumar, IAS |
| 12 | Finance | Additional Chief Secretary, Prabhat Kumar Mishra, IAS |
| 13 | Fire and Emergency Services | Additional Chief Secretary, Manoj Kumar Agarwal, IAS |
| 14 | Fisheries | Secretary, Roshni Sen, IAS |
| 15 | Food and Supplies | Secretary, Parwez Ahmad Siddiqui, IAS |
| 16 | Food Processing Industries and Horticulture | Principal Secretary, Khalil Ahmed, IAS |
| 17 | Forests | Additional Chief Secretary (additional charge), Manoj Kumar Agarwal, IAS |
| 18 | Health and Family Welfare | Principal Secretary, Narayan Swaroop Nigam, IAS |
| 19 | Higher Education | Principal Secretary, (additional charge) Binod Kumar, IAS |
| 20 | Housing | Principal Secretary, Rajesh Kumar Sinha, IAS |
| 21 | Industry, Commerce and Enterprises | Secretary, Vandana Yadav, IAS |
| 22 | Information and Cultural Affairs | Secretary, Santanu Basu, IAS |
| 23 | Information Technology and Electronics | Additional Chief Secretary, Rajeev Kumar, IAS |
| 24 | Irrigation and Waterways | Principal Secretary, Manish Jain, IAS |
| 25 | Judicial | Principal Secretary, Siddhartha Kanjilal, WBJS |
| 26 | Labour | Secretary, Avanindra Singh, IAS |
| 27 | Land and Land Reforms & Refugee Relief and Rehabilitation | Additional Chief Secretary, Vivek Kumar, IAS |
| 28 | Law | Principal Secretary, Pradip Kumar Panja, WBJS |
| 29 | Mass Education Extension and Library Services | Additional Chief Secretary, Hirdyesh Mohan, IAS |
| 30 | Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises and Textiles | Principal Secretary, Rajesh Pandey, IAS |
| 31 | Minority Affairs and Madrasah Education | Secretary (additional charge), P. B. Salim, IAS |
| 32 | North Bengal Development | Additional Chief Secretary (additional charge), Dr. Subrata Gupta, IAS |
| 33 | Non-Conventional and Renewable Energy Sources | Additional Chief Secretary, Barun Kumar Ray, IAS |
| 34 | Panchayats and Rural Development | Secretary, Dr. P. Ulaganathan |
| 35 | Parliamentary Affairs | Principal Secretary, (additional charge), Nandini Chakravorty, IAS |
| 36 | Pashimanchal Unnayan Affairs | Secretary, Dr. Rashmi Kamal, IAS |
| 37 | Personnel and Administrative Reforms | Secretary, Jagdish Prasad Meena, IAS |
| 38 | Planning and Statistics | Additional Chief Secretary (additional charge), Prabhat Kumar Mishra, IAS |
| 39 | Programme Monitoring | Secretary, Dr. P. B. Salim, IAS |
| 40 | Power | Secretary (additional charge), Santanu Basu, IAS |
| 41 | Public Health Engineering | Principal Secretary, Surendra Gupta, IAS |
| 42 | Public Works | Secretary, Antara Acharya, IAS |
| 43 | Public Enterprises and Industrial Reconstruction | Secretary, Smita Pandey, IAS |
| 44 | School Education | Principal Secretary, Binod Kumar, IAS |
| 45 | Science and Technology and Bio-technology | Additional Chief Secretary, Dr. Subrata Gupta, IAS |
| 46 | Self Help Group and Self Employment | Principal Secretary, Dr. Ravi Inder Singh, IAS |
| 47 | Sundarban Affairs | Additional Chief Secretary, Atri Bhattacharya, IAS |
| 48 | Technical Education, Training & Skill Development | Additional Chief Secretary, Anoop Kumar Aggarwal, IAS |
| 49 | Tourism | Principal Secretary, (additional charge), Nandini Chakravorty, IAS |
| 50 | Transport | Secretary, Dr. Saumitra Mohan, IAS |
| 51 | Tribal Development | Principal Secretary, Choten Dhendup Lama, IAS |
| 52 | Urban Development and Municipal Affairs | Secretary, Md. Ghulam Ali Ansari, IAS |
| 53 | Water Resources Investigation and Development | Principal Secretary, (additional charge), Manish Jain, IAS |
| 54 | Women and Child Development and Social Welfare | Principal Secretary, Sanghamitra Ghosh, IAS |
| 55 | Youth Services and Sports | Principal Secretary, Rajesh Kumar Sinha, IAS |
Council of Ministers
edit| S.No | Name[5] | Portrait | Constituency | Assumed office[6] | Department | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mamata Banerjee (Chief Minister) |
|
Bhabanipur | 5 May 2021 |
|
TMC | |
| Cabinet Ministers | |||||||
| 2 | Bankim Chandra Hazra | Sagar | 10 May 2021 | TMC | |||
| 3 | Manas Bhunia | 
|
Sabang | 10 May 2021 |
|
TMC | |
| 4 | Snehasis Chakraborty | Jangipara | 3 August 2022 | TMC | |||
| 5 | Moloy Ghatak | Asansol Uttar | 10 May 2021 | TMC | |||
| 6 | Aroop Biswas | 
|
Tollyganj | 10 May 2021 |
|
TMC | |
| 7 | Rathin Ghosh | Madhyamgram | 10 May 2021 |
|
TMC | ||
| 8 | Firhad Hakim | 
|
Kolkata Port | 10 May 2021 | TMC | ||
| 9 | Chandranath Sinha | Bolpur | 10 May 2021 |
|
TMC | ||
| 10 | Sovandeb Chattopadhyay |
|
Khardaha | 10 May 2021 | TMC | ||
| 11 | Bratya Basu | 
|
Dum Dum | 10 May 2021 | TMC | ||
| 12 | Pulak Roy | Uluberia Dakshin | 10 May 2021 |
|
TMC | ||
| 13 | Shashi Panja | Shyampukur | 10 May 2021 | TMC | |||
| 14 | Biplab Mitra | Harirampur | 10 May 2021 |
|
TMC | ||
| 15 | Javed Ahmed Khan | 
|
Kasba | 10 May 2021 |
|
TMC | |
| 16 | Swapan Debnath | Purbasthali Dakshin | 10 May 2021 |
|
TMC | ||
| 17 | Siddiqullah Chowdhury | 
|
Manteswar | 10 May 2021 |
|
TMC | |
| 18 | Udayan Guha | Dinhata | 3 August 2022 | TMC | |||
| 19 | Babul Supriyo | 
|
Ballygunge | 3 August 2022 |
|
TMC | |
| 20 | Pradip Mazumdar | Durgapur Purba | 3 August 2022 |
|
TMC | ||
| 21 | Md. Ghulam Rabbani | Goalpokhar | 7 August 2024 |
|
TMC | ||
References
editCitations
edit- ^ "West Bengal (state)". Indian Government. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
- ^ a b "The Parliament of West Bengal, India". cpahq.org. Archived from the original on 16 February 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
- ^ "Departments". Government of West Bengal.
- ^ "Secretaries". Government of West Bengal.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Mamata's list of ministers features 17 new faces, including Manoj Tiwari". The Indian Express. 9 May 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
Sources
edit- "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
edit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Government of West Bengal.