India
oi-Swastika Sruti
The Election Commission of India (ECI) clarified on Saturday that the letters sent to the Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan by the Election Commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, were not related to any decision regarding the IT wing of the ECI.
The Election Commission of India clarified that letters from Commissioners Sandhu and Joshi concerned an officer’s conduct and work orders, not IT wing decisions, amid ECINet concerns. An independent expert review of the ECINet platform will check compliance with election laws.
As per the Election Commission of India (ECI), the letters were related to the conduct of an officer deputed to the Commission. The clarification from ECI came in wake of the ongoing controversy surrounding the alleged feud between Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the two Election Commissioners.
ECI Says Work Orders Were Never Implemented
According to the Commission, the certain work allocation orders given by the officer in question were not implemented following the objections made by Sandhu and Joshi.
Furthermore, the ECI also made it clear that there has never been any withdrawal of the supervision of the IT department of the ECI by the Deputy Election Commissioner in question.
The statement was released in response to a report published by The Indian Express citing some internal documents and interviews.
As per the report, Sandhu and Joshi had objected to some changes in the work allocation, which might have impacted their supervision of the technology being used for maintaining electoral rolls.
Why ECINet Has Become A Point Of Discussion
A key part of the issue is ECINet, the Election Commission’s unified digital platform launched in January.
The system brings together more than 40 election-related applications and portals. It is used for various electoral processes, including work related to voter records.
Concerns were reportedly raised over the level of access available to election officials responsible for maintaining and updating electoral rolls.
According to the Indian Express report, Joshi had raised concerns about what he described as the gradual centralisation of the electoral-roll database. He also proposed an audit by an outside IIT expert to check whether only authorised statutory officials had the required credentials to make changes.
Sandhu had also reportedly sought clarity over access and control of the electoral database.
ECI Orders Independent Expert Review
The Election Commission has now decided to conduct an additional review of ECINet.
The Commission said a committee headed by a Senior Deputy Election Commissioner and including an independent expert from an IIT or IIIT will examine the platform.
The committee will check whether the system complies with the provisions of the relevant election laws and rules before submitting its report to the Commission.
The ECI also said several improvements have already been made to ECINet based on feedback received from Chief Electoral Officers of different states.
It added that any further flexibility required by field officials would also be considered.
ECI Says Electoral Powers Remain With Designated Officials
The poll panel has maintained that ECINet follows a role-based access system.
It said officials such as Booth Level Officers (BLOs), Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs), Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), District Election Officers (DEOs) and Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) use individual IDs and passwords based on their statutory responsibilities.
The Commission has also maintained that no other official can carry out a statutory function assigned to these designated election authorities through the platform.
New IT Proposals To Go Through Officers’ Committee
It has also been decided that future projects with regard to the usage of IT modules in election portals shall be deliberated in the Committee of Officers (COO).
These decisions would then be presented to the Commission for its approval.
This latest statement has come in the wake of continued criticism regarding the functioning of the ECI and the SIR process of updating the electoral rolls. The Commission has contended that all decisions on SIR have been made in consultation and that all three Election Commissioners have signed off on the decisions.
