India, July 23 -- With less than a year to go for the West Bengal assembly elections, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has directed the state administration to create a separate department with dedicated budget for the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) to be functionally and institutionally independent. "This will facilitate full financial and administrative autonomy to the CEO, as required for the effective and impartial conduct of elections," the ECI letter to the state chief secretary said. At present, the CEO's office functions as a subordinate branch of the state home and hill affairs department which is led by a principal secretary level officer. P7...