Election Commission Reinstates DEC Reporting for IT Head in Fresh Work Order

Overview

• The Election Commission issued a work allocation order dated November 4 that restores Director General (IT) Seema Khanna to report through a Deputy Election Commissioner rather than directly to the commission.
• The November order follows a July 28 work allocation that had moved IT and grievance responsibilities from Deputy Election Commissioner Sanjay Kumar to Khanna and allowed her to bypass the DEC channel.
• Two Election Commissioners, S.S. Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, raised formal objections to the July 28 change and wrote separately to the Cabinet Secretary on July 29 about the process and distribution of work.
• Sources say the July order was not put into written effect after the objections and that the previous DEC routing continued informally; the commission also recorded Sanjay Kumar’s premature repatriation to his parent cadre in August.
• The fresh order not only restores DEC-level oversight of IT and the public grievance system but also documents responsibilities for newly joined senior officials and re-establishes the commission’s standard approval pathway for work allocations.