Suryaa National Desk: The Election Commission of India has addressed speculation regarding the reporting structure and oversight of Seema Khanna, the Director General of the Information Technology division. A senior official stated that while work allocation orders were revised, the supervisory structure of the IT division remains unchanged.
The controversy originated from an order dated July 28. Following the transfer of Deputy Election Commissioner Sanjay Kumar, under whom Seema Khanna previously worked, Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Nitesh Vyas Garg issued orders for her to report directly to the Commission. This decision was subsequently halted after Election Commissioners S.S. Sandhu and Vivek Joshi raised objections. The move had become controversial amid allegations that the statutory powers of electoral registration officers were being centralized through IT systems.
The Election Commission clarified that the July order was never implemented and that the oversight of the IT division by a Deputy Election Commissioner was never revoked. Officials stated that Seema Khanna continued to work under the supervision of Garg, who acted as the link officer following Sanjay Kumar’s transfer. With Prakash Rajpurohit recently assuming duties as the Deputy Election Commissioner, Seema Khanna will now report to him. The Commission affirmed that the administrative control and supervisory hierarchy over the IT division continue as per established procedure.