Former bureaucrat Parimal Bandyopadhyay who was an authority on land and land reforms, died on August 23 after a prolonged illness. He was 79.
A resident of HA Block, he breathed his last at Calcutta Heart Clinic and Hospital after being on ventilator support for two weeks. He was suffering from severe pneumonia and had developed respiratory distress, family sources said.
After completing MA in economics from Calcutta University, he taught briefly at a government college. During this stint, he developed keen interest in land-related matters. Subsequently, he joined the West Bengal Civil Service in 1968 and later became an IAS in 1982. He had served the government in several senior positions, including director of land records and surveys, special secretary, land and land reforms department, and member of the record updation committee set up by the ministry of rural development.
During his tenure at the Secretariat, he got the opportunity to work in depth in framing land policy. “He was a brilliant officer and was a favourite of land and land revenue minister Binoy Chowdhury, who introduced many an amendment in land laws based on his recommendations,” recalled Anup Matilal, former curator of Rabindra Tirtha, who had worked with him in the land records department.
Bandyopadhyay, he recalled, used to be invited to lecture at refresher courses for college teachers. “He had a gift for lucid explanations. He was friends with all the senior economics professors at Calcutta University in those days. Many IAS officers used to come to him for help,” Matilal said.
The family used to stay in Sraboni Abasan, the government employees’ quarters, and in 1991 moved to the HA Block house. In 2002, Bandyopadhyay took voluntary retirement and joined as the administrative member of West Bengal Land Reforms and Tenancy Tribunal, where he undertook a thorough judicial evaluation of the land reforms programme implemented in the state. He also authored two books. Bhumi o Bhumisanskar: Sekal o Ekal in 2007 and Land and All That in 2012, which are acknowledged as seminal works on the history and evolution of land matters in Bengal.
A book co-edited by him, Untold Stories of New Town’s War Room, was published last year. It is a compilation of articles that provides an interesting perspective and anecdotes on the birth and development of New Town. Gautam Deb, the then housing minister, invited Bandyopadhyay to join the land procurement committee when land was being acquired for New Town.
“He was one of our best officers with the highest degree of efficiency and integrity. Benoy Chowdhury, who was then the acting chief minister, had high praise for him. I disbursed bills worth Rs 700-800 crore while handing out compensation. His guidance was an asset in the process of both procurement and valuation. It was an almost litigation-free process and even in the few cases when matters reached the court, the government rarely lost, so meticulous was the paperwork,” Deb said from his New Town BF Block residence.
Bandyopadhyay is survived by his wife and son. A memorial meet will be held in his honour on Sunday morning at the HA Block community hall, his son Ajeya Bandyopadhyay said.