The Bengal government will not create a separate election department by keeping the chief electoral officer at the helm, as suggested by the Election Commission of India to give financial and administrative independence to the CEO.
“The EC had urged the state to create a separate election department to give the CEO financial and administrative autonomy for effective and impartial conduct of polls. The state has not written back to the EC yet, but it has been decided that no election department will be created right now. A financial advisor will be posted in the CEO’s office to give some sort of financial independence to the CEO,” said a senior state government official.
On July 23, the EC had written to the chief secretary of Bengal, urging him to initiate steps to create a separate election department to ensure the financial and administrative autonomy of the CEO.
Right now, the CEO’s office acts under the administrative control of the state home department, which officials said restricted the CEO’s office from taking several administrative and financial decisions, like awarding tenders to set up election-related facilities.
A senior Bengal government official said as the state would place a financial advisor in the CEO’s office, he would be able to send files seeking clearance from the finance department directly.
“He would not be required to send files to the home department for approval on finance-related issues. If a separate department is created, the CEO would have to do the same exercise. So, there is no more a requirement for a separate department,” said the state government official.
But sources in the CEO’s office said that placing a financial advisor — a finance department official who screens all expenditure proposals on behalf of a department secretary before sending those to the finance department — would not at all help the CEO gain the required autonomy.
“A department secretary has the financial authority to spend a sum of up to ₹5 crore in infrastructure development. But the CEO would not have the authority until the CEO’s office is made a department,” said a source.
Another official in the CEO’s office said that the CEO could spend a sum up to ₹50,000 for minor expenditures, including office expenses.
“This cannot be called financial autonomy. Moreover, the CEO cannot award tenders on their own. He had to depend on the home department to finalise any tender. If a separate department is created, he can convene the meeting of the tender committee,” an
official said.
Sources said that the CEO did not have control over inviting and finalising tenders for the installation of several infrastructure facilities, including CCTV cameras in
the booths.
“Often, high-quality cameras are not installed in the booths as the home department hesitates to go for those. I am not sure whether there was any political pressure behind the decisions,” said
a source.
Another official stated that in the absence of administrative and financial authority, it would be challenging for the CEO’s office to undertake the special intensive revision (SIR) of the voters’ list in the state smoothly.
“There could be situations when on-the-spot administrative decisions could be required to be taken to carry out the SIR smoothly. Urgent expenditures could be required to make the programme successful. If the CEO’s office sends the file to the home department every time, the progress of the SIR would be severely affected,” said
the official.