Name Change for West Bengal State Government Employees: Their Own Rule and Their Own Gazette
A West Bengal state government employee does not follow the central order that governs central staff. The rule here is Finance Department Memorandum No. 3990-F dated 4 May 2005, and it points at the Kolkata Gazette, not the Gazette of India. It also sets out two situations that need only an intimation, with no deed, no newspaper and no gazette at all.
Get Call and Name Change Format
Name Change for a WB State Government Employee (Quick Answer)
The governing order is Finance Department, Audit Branch, Memo No. 3990-F dated 4 May 2005, issued in supersession of the older Memo No. 1114-F of 1966. It sets out three situations. For any addition, deletion or change of name or surname, you execute a deed changing your name, then publish in a daily local newspaper and the Kolkata Gazette, at your own expense. For a female employee changing only her surname on marriage or remarriage, a formal intimation to the appointing authority with the husband's particulars for the Service Book is enough. For deletion of surname or reversion to a maiden name on divorce, separation or death of the husband, an intimation is enough. The order says expressly that there is no prescribed form for the second and third. The appointing authority issues the order, and the Service Book entry is what changes your record.
| Your situation | Deed? | Newspaper and gazette? |
|---|---|---|
| Any addition, deletion or change of name or surname | Yes | Yes, at your own expense |
| Female employee, surname change on marriage or remarriage | No | No. Intimation only |
| Female employee, reversion to maiden name on divorce, separation or death of husband | No | No. Intimation only |
On This Page
- Why the central rule does not apply to you
- The three situations in the order
- The two cases that need only an intimation
- A deed, not an affidavit
- Newspaper and the Kolkata Gazette
- Who issues the order
- The Service Book entry is the real change
- The superseded 1966 order people still quote
- Ask your establishment section first
- FAQ
- Enquiry form
State vs Central Government Employee Name Change: Why the Central Rule Does Not Apply
Almost everything written about government employees and name changes describes the central rule: the departmental order of 1987 that governs central government staff and sends them to the Gazette of India.
If you work for the Government of West Bengal, that is not your rule. Yours is Finance Department, Audit Branch, Memorandum No. 3990-F dated 4 May 2005, and the practical difference is the one that matters most: it directs publication in the Kolkata Gazette.
The two orders are structured alike, which is why the confusion persists. Both use a deed rather than an affidavit, both make the employee bear the publication cost, and both exempt a woman changing only her surname on marriage. But they point at different gazettes, and being sent to the wrong one wastes both time and money.
The central employee rule, for anyone who is covered by that one instead.
A quick test
Ask who your appointing authority is. If it is a department of the Government of West Bengal, this page is yours. If you are in central service, a central PSU or the railways, it is the other one.
Finance Department Memo 3990-F of 2005: The Three Name Change Situations
The order divides every case into three, and two of them are far lighter than people expect.
I. Any change of name or surname
Addition, deletion or change. Done formally by a deed changing your name, with a sample deed form enclosed with the order. The execution of the deed is followed by publication in a daily local newspaper and the Kolkata Gazette, at your own expense.
II. Surname on marriage or remarriage
For a female government employee changing only her surname. A formal intimation to the appointing authority of the marriage with a request for the change, and the husband's particulars for entries in the Service Book. No deed, no newspaper, no gazette.
III. Reversion to a maiden name
Deletion of surname or reversion to the maiden name on divorce, separation or death of the husband. An intimation about the change in marital status and a formal request for reversion. Again no deed, newspaper or gazette.
The order carries a note that there is no prescribed form for items II and III. So if anybody offers to sell you the correct form for a surname change on marriage, there is no such form to sell.
Surname Change After Marriage or Divorce for State Employees: Intimation Only
This is the part of the order that saves people the most money, and it is the part least often mentioned.
If you are a female state government employee and you are changing only your surname because of marriage or remarriage, the order does not ask you for a deed, a newspaper advertisement or a gazette notification. It asks for a formal intimation to your appointing authority and your husband's particulars for the Service Book entries.
The same is true of reverting to your maiden name after divorce, separation or the death of your husband. An intimation about the change in marital status, and a formal request.
We say this plainly even though it means less work for us. A great many women in state service are sold a full gazette notification for a situation the order settles with a letter.
When you might still want the gazette
The intimation changes your service record. It does not change your Aadhaar, PAN or bank. If you want those to follow as well, the ordinary marriage route explains when a marriage certificate is enough and when a gazette helps.
Name Change Deed for WB Government Employees, Not an Affidavit
For any case falling under Part I of the order, the instrument is a deed changing your name. Not the ordinary notarised affidavit that a private citizen uses, and not a plain declaration.
The order says an employee wishing to adopt a new name or effect any modification in an existing name may do so formally by a deed, and a sample deed form is enclosed with the order itself. Your establishment section will usually have it, and it is the version to use rather than a form found online.
Same instrument, different gazette
Central employees also execute a deed. If you have read guidance written for them, the deed part will look familiar; it is the gazette that differs.
Newspaper Advertisement and Kolkata Gazette Publication at Your Own Expense
The order requires the execution of the deed to be followed by publication of the change in a daily local newspaper as well as in the Kolkata Gazette, and states that the expenses are borne by the employee.
The state gazette is designed for this. The Part II guidelines published in the Kolkata Gazette Extraordinary of May 2023 state that the facility applies to government employees as well, and they list separate categories for a state government employee and for the two female-employee situations.
What the Kolkata Gazette is and what Part II covers, and the guidelines explained clause by clause.
Budget for it honestly
The gazette fee and the newspaper cost are yours. Ask anyone helping you for the government fee and their fee as two separate numbers.
Appointing Authority: Who Issues the Name Change Order
A question arose after the original procedure was laid down: which authority should actually issue the order recognising the new name?
It was answered by a further Finance Department memorandum, No. 10493-F dated 4 November 1994, which directed that the order in this regard would be issued by the appointing authority.
So the chain is straightforward. You execute the deed and publish. Your appointing authority issues the order. Your establishment section records it.
Useful when you are stuck
If an office tells you it cannot issue the order, that memorandum is the reference to cite. It exists precisely because the question was being asked.
Service Book Name Change Entry for West Bengal Government Employees
It is worth being clear about what the gazette actually achieves, because it is easy to over-value.
Your official record changes when the entry is made in your Service Book, after the appointing authority has issued its order. The gazette is supporting proof. It does not rewrite your service record by itself, any more than it rewrites a birth register or a land record.
That is why the second and third situations in the order work without any gazette at all: for those, the intimation and the Service Book entry are the whole mechanism.
Then everything else
Your service record and your identity documents are separate jobs. Aadhaar, PAN, bank and the rest each need their own application, with the gazette behind them.
Memo 1114-F of 1966: The Superseded Order People Still Quote
There is an older West Bengal order on this subject, Memo No. 1114-F dated 4 April 1966, and it still circulates.
It has been superseded. Memo 3990-F of 2005 says so in its opening line, that it is issued in supersession of the 1966 memorandum.
The difference is not academic. The 1966 order required an affidavit sworn before a Magistrate. The 2005 order requires a deed. So if someone hands you guidance built on the older order, or asks you to swear an affidavit before a Magistrate as a state employee, they are working from a rule that no longer applies.
A test you can use
Ask which order they are relying on. If the answer is 1114-F, or there is no answer at all, ask them to check again before you pay anything.
Ask Your Establishment Section Before Applying for a Name Change
Before you spend a rupee, speak to your own establishment section and ask, in writing, what your department wants to see.
They handle this more often than any consultant does. They will have the deed form, they know how your appointing authority issues the order, and they know what your Service Book entry needs. That conversation costs nothing and it settles the shape of everything that follows.
It may also tell you that your case falls under situation II or III, in which case you need no gazette at all and this becomes a very short job.
What we can help with
Drafting the deed, placing the newspaper notice and preparing the Kolkata Gazette application. What we will not do is sell a gazette to someone whose order says an intimation is enough. What a consultant can and cannot do.
WB State Government Employee Name Change: Frequently Asked Questions
Which order governs a name change for a West Bengal state government employee?
Finance Department, Audit Branch, Memorandum No. 3990-F dated 4 May 2005. It was issued in supersession of the older Memo No. 1114-F of 4 April 1966, and it lays down the procedure for change of name and surname of a State Government employee.
Do state employees follow the central 1987 office memorandum?
No, and this is the point most guides get wrong. The DoPT and MHA order of 1987 governs central government employees. A West Bengal state employee follows the state's own Finance Department memorandum, and it points at a different gazette.
Which gazette does a state employee use?
The Kolkata Gazette. Memo 3990-F says the execution of the deed should be followed by publication in a daily local newspaper as well as in the Kolkata Gazette. That is the state publication, not the Gazette of India, and it is the single most useful difference between the two sets of employees.
Do I file an affidavit or a deed?
A deed. The order says an employee wishing to adopt a new name or modify an existing one may do so formally by a deed changing his or her name, and a sample deed form is enclosed with the order. The earlier 1966 memorandum asked for an affidavit sworn before a Magistrate, but that order has been superseded, so anyone quoting it to you is quoting a rule that no longer applies.
Who pays for the newspaper and the gazette?
You do. The order states plainly that the expenses of publication should be borne by the employee. That is the same position as for central employees, and it is worth knowing before anyone suggests the department will meet it.
I am a woman changing only my surname after marriage. What do I have to do?
Far less than most people are told. Under Part II of the order you give a formal intimation to your appointing authority of your marriage, with a request for the change in surname, and you give your husband's particulars for the entries in your Service Book. There is no deed, no newspaper advertisement and no gazette for this.
And if I am reverting to my maiden name after divorce, separation or the death of my husband?
Also an intimation. Part III of the order asks for an intimation to the appointing authority about the change in marital status, and a formal request for reversion to your maiden name. Again there is no deed, no newspaper and no gazette.
Is there a form for those two situations?
No, and the order says so expressly. It carries a note that there is no prescribed form for items II and III. So if anyone offers to sell you the correct form for a surname change on marriage, there is not one to sell.
Who issues the order recognising my new name?
Your appointing authority. That was settled by a separate Finance Department memorandum, No. 10493-F dated 4 November 1994, which was issued specifically to answer the question of which authority should issue the order.
What actually changes my official record?
The entry in your Service Book, made through your establishment section once the appointing authority has issued the order. The gazette is supporting proof. It does not by itself rewrite your service record, and no gazette ever does.
Does the Kolkata Gazette accept government employees?
Yes, expressly. The Part II guidelines published in the Kolkata Gazette Extraordinary of May 2023 state that the facility applies to government employees as well, and they list separate categories for a state government employee, for a female government employee changing her surname on marriage or remarriage, and for deletion of surname or reversion to a maiden name.
Should I ask my department before I start?
Always, and ask for it in writing. Departments differ in what they want to see, and your establishment section deals with this more often than any consultant. That conversation is free and it is the single best thing you can do before spending money.
Official Sources for WB State Government Employee Name Change
Finance Department Memo 3990-F
Dated 4 May 2005, change of name and surname of a State Government employee, in supersession of Memo 1114-F of 1966. Reproduced here with the earlier orders. Ask your establishment section for the departmental copy.
Kolkata Gazette Part II
wbgazettepart2.in: the guidelines expressly cover government employees, with categories for state employees and for the two female-employee situations.
Your establishment section
The people who will actually make the Service Book entry, and the first place to ask. Free, and more authoritative for your department than any website.
Get Call and Name Change Format
Tell Us Which of the Three Situations You Are In
If it is a surname change on marriage, or a reversion to your maiden name, the order settles it with an intimation and you need no gazette from anyone. If it is a full name change, we will draft the deed, place the notice and prepare the Kolkata Gazette application. Monday to Saturday.