// Workers AI · dad joke modeIs Manoj Kumar Agarwal a good baker? He kneads the dough.
Manoj Kumar Agarwal | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chief Secretary of West Bengal | |
| Assumed office 11 May 2026 | |
| Governor | R. N. Ravi |
| Preceded by | Dushyant Nariala |
| Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal | |
| In office 29 March 2025 – 11 May 2026 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 8 July 1966 Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India |
| Education | Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur |
| Occupation | IAS officer |
Manoj Kumar Agarwal (born 8 July 1966) is an Indian civil servant belonging to the 1990 batch of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), West Bengal cadre. He has served as the Chief Secretary of the Government of West Bengal since May 2026, having previously served as the state's Chief Electoral Officer during the 2026 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, in which turnout reached 92.4 percent, described by the Election Commission as the highest level of voter participation in the state since independence.[1][2][3]
Early life and education
[edit]Agarwal was born on 8 July 1966 in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. He was educated at La Martiniere College, Lucknow, and holds a Bachelor of Technology degree in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur.[2] He is married to Rooma Agarwal.[4]
Career
[edit]Agarwal began his administrative career in 1990, with early postings as Additional District Magistrate at Bardhaman and Purulia, Sub-divisional Officer at Bardhaman, and Chief Executive Officer at Jalpaiguri, before serving as District Magistrate of North Dinajpur from 1999 to 2001 and District Magistrate of Bardhaman from 2001 to 2003. He then went on central deputation to Delhi, serving as personal secretary to Union minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi and as Land Commissioner in the Delhi Development Authority.[1][2]
On returning to West Bengal, he held several senior secretariat posts in the state government, including Principal Secretary of the Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department, Chairman of the West Bengal Highway Development Corporation, and Principal Secretary and Commissioner of the Food and Supplies Department. He is currently the Chief Secretary of West Bengal and president of the West Bengal State IAS Association.[1][2][5][6]
According to bureaucratic accounts cited by The Print, Agarwal was transferred out of the Food and Supplies Secretary role in 2020 after ordering an FIR over alleged irregularities in the public distribution system. The minister then overseeing the department, Jyotipriya Mallick, was subsequently arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in October 2023 in a money-laundering case linked to the alleged multi-crore ration distribution scam.[1]
Chief Electoral Officer and Chief Secretary
[edit]On 29 March 2025, Agarwal was appointed Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal by the Election Commission of India,[7] and in that capacity oversaw the 2026 assembly election, which was conducted amid a Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls that removed more than nine million names. The election, won by the Bharatiya Janata Party for the first time in the state, recorded turnout of 92.4 percent.[1][3]
He was appointed Chief Secretary of West Bengal on 11 May 2026, days after Suvendu Adhikari was sworn in as Chief Minister, succeeding Dushyant Nariala, who had held the post on an interim basis appointed by the Election Commission of India for the duration of the election. He was due to retire on 31 July 2026 but was granted a six-month extension, to 31 January 2027, under Rule 16(1) of the All India Services (DCRB) Rules, 1958.[1][6][8]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Tulsian, Vrinda (11 May 2026). "West Bengal has a new chief secy—Manoj Agarwal, IAS officer who oversaw 2026 polls as CEO". ThePrint. Retrieved 5 September 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 Singh, Ayodhya Prasad (11 May 2026). "Who Is IAS Manoj Agarwal? IIT Kanpur Graduate Appointed as West Bengal Chief Secretary by BJP Govt". Indian Masterminds. Retrieved 5 September 2026.
- 1 2 "West Bengal Assembly Elections 2026 | 92.4% turnout, sporadic violence during last phase of polls". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 5 September 2026.
- ↑ "CBI files DA charge sheet against IAS officer, wife". Business Standard. PTI. 30 October 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2026.
- ↑ "Who Is IAS Manoj Kumar Agarwal? Senior Bureaucrat Appointed As New Chief Secretary Of West Bengal". Dynamite News. Retrieved 5 September 2026.
- 1 2 "West Bengal Appoints Manoj Kumar Agarwal as Chief Secretary". Drishti IAS. 13 May 2026. Retrieved 5 September 2026.
- ↑ "Manoj Kumar Agarwal appointed chief electoral officer of Bengal". Millennium Post. 29 March 2025. Retrieved 5 September 2026.
- ↑ "Manoj Kumar Agarwal IAS given extension as Chief Secretary- West Bengal". Indian Bureaucracy. 27 July 2026. Retrieved 5 September 2026.