E-Paper
Neelam Meena becomes the first woman chief electoral officer of West Bengal
Earlier the state administration appointed Subrata Gupta, who was a special observer appointed by the Election Commission of India
Neelam Meena, a 1998-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, was appointed the first woman chief electoral officer (CEO) of West Bengal on Monday, officials aware of the development said.
“The ECI has appointed Neelam Meena as the CEO of West Bengal in place of Manoj Kumar Agarwal. She is the first woman CEO of the eastern state,” an official said.
Agarwal, who received both praise for conducting a largely violence-free assembly election and criticism for the mass disenfranchisement during the special intensive revision (SIR) exercise under his watch, was appointed the chief secretary of West Bengal under the newly formed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government on May 12.
Earlier the state administration appointed Subrata Gupta, who was a special observer appointed by the Election Commission of India (ECI), as adviser to the chief minister, days after the assembly election results were announced.
The state government sent the names of three senior IAS officers including Meena, Tanmay Chakraborty and Moumita Godara Basu.
Meena held important portfolios in the past including principal secretary, director, secretary and deputy chairperson in various state government departments.
