C V Ananda Bose appointed West Bengal Governor

Kolkata, Nov 17: C V Ananda Bose, described by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a 'man of ideas' was on Thursday appointed the Governor of West Bengal.

The President of India is pleased to appoint Dr C V Ananda Bose as regular Governor of West Bengal," the communique said.

Manipur Governor La Ganesan has been holding the additional charge of West Bengal since July.

CV Ananda Bose is a 1977-batch (retired) Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Kerala cadre.

Bose's appointment comes a day after West Bengal BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar had claimed that the state would soon get a new governor who would follow the footsteps of Dhankhar, who had frequent run-ins with the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) government.

Prior to his election as the vice president of India, Dhankhar was the governor of West Bengal for nearly three years.

Born in Mannanam in Kerala's Kottayam, Bose last served as an administrator in the National Museum here before superannuating in 2011. He was addressed by Prime Minister Modi as a 'man of ideas', according to Bose's website.

Known as the 'make over man' of the service and a housing expert, he was described by the Kerala government as a 'lord of ideas' and by former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh as 'inspired civil servant', it said.

Bose's concept of 'affordable housing for all Indians' is reflected in the national project to provide houses for all, his website says. He was also the head of the Supreme Court Committee on the treasures of 'Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple' Kerala.

An internationally renowned orator, Bose has addressed many prestigious global fora, including the United Nations General Assembly.

Bose has worked both in his cadre state Kerala and in the Centre in different positions. He has been the district collector of Quilon district (now Kollam) in Kerala, served as the secretary to the then chief minister of the state and as additional secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, among others.

A former chairman of Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC), Bose is the chairman of the Habitat Alliance, in consultative status with the United Nations, according to his website. He is also the recipient of the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship. Bose is also the first ever Fellow of the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie, it says.

Bose has brought out 350 publications including 45 books in English, Malayalam and Hindi consisting of novels, short stories, poems and essays.