Kolkata, Nov. 27 -- The Bengal government has expanded the financial powers of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), placing the post on par with senior state bureaucrats, including an additional chief secretary, principal secretary and secretary, for the purpose of delegating financial authority.
The CEO will now be able to independently sanction expenditure under Administrative Expenditures and State Development Scheme (SDS) categories.
An order issued by the Audit branch of the Finance department said the decision follows a long-pending proposal under examination. Nabanna officials said the move is expected to streamline administrative processes and expedite project-related approvals within the CEO's office.
The decision comes at a time when the state BJP has accused the government of limiting the office's autonomy. In a recent memorandum to the Election Commission of India (ECI), the state unit alleged that the CEO's office in Bengal "lacks true independence" from the state administration.
"Bengal is the only state in which the CEO's office functions under the administrative control of the state Home department. In every other state, the CEO operates as an independent department," the memorandum said. The party argued that such dependency "compromises autonomy and operational neutrality," particularly during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and the election cycle.
The memorandum was signed by state BJP president and Rajya Sabha MP Samik Bhattacharya, along with Lok Sabha MPs Khagen Murmu and Jagannath Sarkar.
Earlier, in a letter dated July 17 to Chief Secretary Manoj Pant, the Election Commission had flagged the CEO's limited financial authority and restricted administrative independence. The Commission had directed the state to take steps to strengthen the CEO's office, including creation of a separate Election Department fully delinked from any other state department.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.