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Governor of West Bengal
Emblem of West Bengal.svg
Emblem of West Bengal
C. V. Ananda Bose.jpg
Incumbent
C. V. Ananda Bose

since 23 November 2022 (2022-11-23)
Style His Excellency
Residence
  • Raj Bhavan, Kolkata (primary)
  • Raj Bhavan, Darjeeling (summer)
Appointer President of India
Term length Five years Renewable
Inaugural holder Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari
Formation 15 August 1947; 76 years ago (1947-08-15)
Salary 350,000 (US$6,000) (per month)

The Governor of West Bengal is the nominal head of state of the Indian state of West Bengal and a representative of the President of India. The governor is appointed by the president for a term of five years. His official residence is the Raj Bhavan. C. V. Ananda Bose was appointed as the Governor of West Bengal on 23 November 2022.

History

In 1911 the Imperial capital of India was moved from Calcutta to Delhi and as some compensation to Bengal the lieutenant governor with council gave place to a governor with a council thus completing the circle and reverting to the position which had been obtained 200 years ago. In 1947 India achieved independence and the title of Governor of Bengal remained.

Powers and functions

The Governor enjoys many different types of powers:

  • Executive powers related to administration, appointments and removals,
  • Legislative powers related to lawmaking and the state legislature, that is Vidhan Sabha or Vidhan Parishad, and
  • Discretionary powers to be carried out according to the discretion of the Governor.

Ex officio Role of Governor

In his ex officio capacity, the Governor of West Bengal is Chancellor of the universities of West Bengal (at present 16) as per the Acts of the Universities. The Universities are: University of Calcutta; Jadavpur University; Presidency University, Kolkata; University of Kalyani; Rabindra Bharati University; Vidyasagar University; University of Burdwan; North Bengal University; Netaji Subhas Open University; Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology; Aliah University; Bankura University; Cooch Behar Panchanan Barma University; Diamond Harbour Women's University; University of Gour Banga; Kazi Nazrul University; Raiganj University; Sidho Kanho Birsha University; Sanskrit College and University; West Bengal University of Teachers' Training, Education Planning and Administration; Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya; Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswa Vidyalaya; West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences; West Bengal University of Health Sciences and West Bengal State University. For Visva Bharati, the Governor is the Pradhana (Rector).

The Governor is also the Chairman / President of some organizations such as Victoria Memorial Hall, Indian Museum, Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies (MAKAIAS), Calcutta Cultural Centre (Kolkata Kala Kendra), Special Fund for R&R of Ex-servicemen, West Bengal Rajya Sainik Board, Sri Aurobindo Samiti, Indian Red Cross Society - West Bengal State Branch, St. John Ambulance Brigade No. II (West Bengal) District, Bharat Scouts and Guides and the Bengal Tuberculosis Association.

Governor of West Bengal’s Welfare Fund, has the governor as its chairman. Contributions from this Fund are given to the needy people for meeting, to some extent the cost of their treatment. Besides the above, at his discretion, the Governor, accepts the position of Chief Patron/Patron or other posts in the honorary capacity, in various organizations that are rendering yeoman service to the society in different fields.

List of governors

No. Portrait Name Took office Left office
1 Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari.jpg Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari 15 August 1947 21 June 1948
2 Kailash Nath Katju.jpg Kailash Nath Katju 21 June 1948 1 November 1951
3  – Harendra Coomar Mookerjee 1 November 1951 8 August 1956
4  – Padmaja Naidu 3 November 1956 1 June 1967
5 Dharma Vir, ICS.jpg Dharma Vira 1 June 1967 1 April 1969
 – Deep Narayan Sinha (acting) 1 April 1969 19 September 1969
6  – Shanti Swaroop Dhavan 19 September 1969 21 August 1971
7  – Anthony Lancelot Dias 21 August 1971 6 November 1979
8  – Tribhuvana Narayana Singh 6 November 1979 12 September 1981
9  – Bhairab Dutt Pande 12 September 1981 10 October 1983
10  – Anant Prasad Sharma 10 October 1983 16 August 1984
 – Satish Chandra (acting) 16 August 1984 1 October 1984
11  – Uma Shankar Dikshit 1 October 1984 12 August 1986
12 Saiyid Nurul Hasan 16 (cropped).jpg Saiyid Nurul Hasan 12 August 1986 20 March 1989
13 T. V. Rajeswar (cropped).jpg T. V. Rajeswar 20 March 1989 7 February 1990
(12) Saiyid Nurul Hasan 16 (cropped).jpg Saiyid Nurul Hasan 7 February 1990 12 July 1993
 – B. Satyanarayan Reddy (additional charge) 13 July 1993 14 August 1993
14  – K. V. Raghunatha Reddy 14 August 1993 27 April 1998
15  – Akhlaqur Rahman Kidwai 27 April 1998 18 May 1999
16 Shyamal Kumar Sen - Kolkata 2012-10-03 0512.JPG Shyamal Kumar Sen 18 May 1999 4 December 1999
17 Viren J Shah - Kolkata 2004-05-02 1366.jpg Viren J. Shah 4 December 1999 14 December 2004
18 Gopalkrishna Gandhi - Chatham House 2010 (cropped).jpg Gopalkrishna Gandhi 14 December 2004 14 December 2009
Pranab Mukherjee attending the Launching Ceremony of Agriculture Road Map of Bihar (2012-2017), at Patna, in Bihar. The Governor of Bihar, Shri Devanand Konwar and the Chief Minister of Bihar, Shri Nitish Kumar are also seen (cropped).jpg Devanand Konwar (additional charge) 14 December 2009 23 January 2010
19 Mayankote Kelath Narayanan - Kolkata 2013-01-07 2702 Cropped.JPG M.K. Narayanan 24 January 2010 30 June 2014
Shri D.Y. Patil (cropped, 3x4).jpg D. Y. Patil (additional charge) 3 July 2014 17 July 2014
20 Keshari Nath Tripathi - Kolkata 2016-07-01 5591.JPG Keshari Nath Tripathi 24 July 2014 29 July 2019
21 Shri JDhankhar.png Jagdeep Dhankhar 30 July 2019 17 July 2022
La Ganesan Ji (cropped).jpg La. Ganesan (additional charge) 18 July 2022 22 November 2022
22 C. V. Ananda Bose.jpg C. V. Ananda Bose 23 November 2022 Incumbent

See also

  • West Bengal
  • Governors and Lieutenant-Governors of states of India
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