11 IAS officers in West Bengal has been awarded by Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on the occasion of Independence Day. The officers were were felicitated with medals to acknowledge their excellent services during the Independence Day programme organised by the state government on Red Road. This initiative to award IAS officers was started in 2014 but was stopped due to questions within the civil service fraternity about the move. In the year 2014, four IAS officers were awarded by the CM.

This year Chief Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Service was given to state home secretary B.P. Gopalika, forest secretary Vivek Kumar, finance secretary Manoj Panth, irrigation secretary Prabhat Mishra, health secretary N. S. Nigam, secretary of women and child welfare Sanghamitra Ghosh, power and information and cultural affairs secretary Santanu Basu and MD of WBPDCL P. B Salim. Besides them Sharad Dwivedi, Mukta Arya and Bidhan Roy, the district magistrates of North 24-Parganas, Howrah and Birbhum, respectively were also awarded.

Let it be noted that previously some senior bureaucrats opposed these awards saying it was creating divisions within the cadre as all officials don’t get equal opportunities to deliver services. Also, it is uncommon for IAS officers to receive awards from the chief minister as it puts under strain the idea that the bureaucracy is immune to regime change.

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