The state government has removed Ratan Biswas from his position as the director of the ICA department, amidst speculations of a reshuffle of officers. Biswas has been posted as the director of the department of printing and stationery, which is considered to be of less importance. The director of ICA will now be Bimbisar Bhattacharjee, an honest and upright officer from the education department.
Sources have revealed that Biswas was appointed as the director of ICA by the former chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb, who had removed Ashudeb Das from the post. Biswas is known to be personally loyal to Deb and his coterie, and had often favored crony papers, channels, and web media with large amounts of advertisements in violation of state cabinet rules. There were instances where web media, updating their news content once a week, were still able to secure advertisements worth more than Rs 2 lakhs every month in violation of rules.
The current chief minister is believed to be trying to rid the ICA department of fraudulent elements and touts who have looted the government over the past five years. The new director, Bimbisar Bhattacharjee, is expected to work within the existing rules and regulations and ensure fairness in the media as per the law.
