What is the controversy over the oversight of ECI’s Director-General of IT? Explained

The Hindu · Sreeparna Chakrabarty · 2026-11-06 07:22 UTC

Controversy over IT head Seema Khanna’s oversight at ECI, reversing July order and restoring senior DEC Pawan Sharma’s file-routing control.

The Story So Far: On October 4, the Election Commission of India issued a new work allocation order rejigging departments earmarked for various officers. Among the changes was the reintroduction of an oversight mechanism for IT head Dr. Seema Khanna, whose files would now have to be routed through Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Pawan Kumar Sharma. An earlier order, dated July 28, had removed this oversight, allowing Ms. Khanna to send her files directly to the Commission. The change had been flagged by two Election Commissioners, S.S. Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, in separate letters to Cabinet Secretary T.V. Somanathan.

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