The Election Commission of India (ECI) has directed the West Bengal government to ensure full financial and administrative independence of the state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO)’s office by delinking it from the control of the administration.

A formal letter to this effect, signed by ECI under secretary Ashutosh M., was sent on Tuesday to chief secretary Manoj Pant, news agency IANS reported.

The communication flagged serious concerns over the lack of institutional autonomy available to CEO Manoj Kumar Agarwal, who serves both as additional chief secretary to the state's home and hill affairs (election) department.

The Commission has found the dual role detrimental to neutrality.

“The financial and administrative autonomy of the CEO is currently limited. Being under the Home Department compromises the neutrality of the electoral process. A separate, autonomous election department must be created,” the letter stated, according to the report.

At present, the CEO’s office in Bengal operates under the administrative umbrella of the home and hill affairs department and has limited financial powers, functioning off a minor permanent advance approved by the finance department.

Although the CEO holds the rank of additional chief secretary, his office is treated as a subordinate unit to a department led by a principal secretary-level officer.

ECI has recommended the creation of a separate election department with its own dedicated budget head and appointing a financial advisor to assist the CEO and empowering the office with financial authority equivalent to other senior state bureaucrats.

The ECI has directed the state government to fill four vacant key positions, additional CEO, joint CEO, and two deputy CEOs, in consultation with the commission, citing the need for a fully-staffed electoral apparatus ahead of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections.

The ECI's directive comes in the backdrop of the controversy surrounding the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. In Bihar, opposition parties have accused the ruling government of using the revision exercise to delete genuine voters. On Tuesday, Opposition parties protested against the SIR in the Parliament.

The Trinamool Congress has questioned the objectivity and transparency of the exercise, alleging it may be used as a political tool to influence the outcome of upcoming elections.

The controversy has intensified in Bengal after reports surfaced of field-level verification teams collecting Aadhaar numbers and other personal details, raising fears of voter profiling.

The ECI has maintained that the SIR is a routine procedure meant to ensure electoral integrity, but political parties have cast doubts over its impartiality, especially in politically sensitive states.