Election Commission Issues New Work Order for IT Department

The Election Commission of India has issued a fresh work allocation order bringing back oversight of its IT department through a Deputy Election Commissioner. Under the new order dated October 4, IT Head Seema Khanna must now route files related to IT/ICT and Grievances/PGRS through Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Pawan Kumar Sharma.

Background

This change follows an internal order issued on July 28 by Senior DEC Maneesh Garg, which had removed Deputy Election Commissioner Sanjay Kumar from the IT and ICT charge and allowed Dr. Khanna to report directly to the Commission. Following that July order, Election Commissioners S S Sandhu and Vivek Joshi wrote to Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan on July 29 to object that Dr. Garg had changed work allocations without discussing it with them. These letters were obtained through RTI by transparency activist Commodore Lokesh Batra. ECI sources stated that the July 28 order was never implemented and that work allocation orders followed unanimous decisions. Dr. Khanna joined the ECI in 2025 on deputation from the National Informatics Centre.

Context

Work allocation orders inside government bodies define which officials handle specific files and departments. Bureaucratic oversight ensures that major administrative decisions pass through multiple senior levels of review before final approval.