The West Bengal government on Sunday appointed BP Gopalika as the new chief secretary of the state, an official notification said.

He replaced HK Dwivedi, whose extended term ended on December 31.

Unless given an extension like his predecessor, Gopalika, a 1989-batch IAS officer, would be holding the post for only five months as he is scheduled to retire on May 31 next year.

Nandini Chakraborty replaced Gopalika as the new state home secretary, becoming only the second woman after Lina Chakraborty to hold the post.

Lina Chakraborty was the state home secretary from November 26, 1996 to September 7, 1998 during the previous Left Front government.

Dwivedi was made the chief advisor (finance) to the chief minister for a period of three years, a senior official said.

The Centre had in June granted a six-month extension to Dwivedi as the chief secretary at the request of the state government.

Gopalika had earlier worked in the transport, animal resources development, and personnel and administrative reforms departments as secretary.

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