The Election Commission of India has revised work allocation among senior officers, assigning new responsibilities to Maneesh Garg, Pawan Kumar Sharma, Prakash Rajpurohit and other IAS officers across key divisions and state zones.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has undertaken a significant administrative restructuring, revising the allocation of work among its senior officers, including Senior Deputy Election Commissioners (Senior DECs), Deputy Election Commissioners (DECs), Directors and other senior functionaries. The revised arrangement redistributes responsibilities across several important functional divisions and geographical zones, with immediate effect.
According to an official order issued on November 4, 2026, the changes are intended to streamline administrative responsibilities, strengthen coordination among different divisions and ensure effective supervision of election-related activities across the country.
The revised allocation covers a wide range of portfolios, including election planning, Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), political parties, election expenditure monitoring, electoral rolls, information technology, grievance redressal, administration and media-related functions.
One of the notable aspects of the restructuring is the revised reporting arrangement for the IT/ICT and Grievance/PGRS divisions, along with the redistribution of geographical zones among senior officers.
Dr Pawan Kumar Sharma Assigned IT/ICT and Grievance Responsibilities
Dr Pawan Kumar Sharma (IAS:1999), Senior Deputy Election Commissioner, has been assigned responsibility for the IT/ICT and Grievance/PGRS divisions, in addition to his other functional assignments.
Although Dr Seema Khanna, Director General (IT), will continue to oversee these two divisions, files concerning IT/ICT and Grievance/PGRS will now be submitted through Dr Sharma.
The revised arrangement also assigns Dr Sharma responsibility for Political Parties, Election Expenditure Policy, Political Parties Expenditure Monitoring, the Observer Division and Coordination.
His portfolio will cover expenditure monitoring relating to National Parties, State Parties and Registered Unrecognised Political Parties (RUPPs).
Geographically, Dr Sharma will oversee three important zones:
North East-II: Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Manipur.
East-II: West Bengal and Odisha.
South-II: Karnataka and Kerala.
The assignment places several important functional divisions and geographical jurisdictions under his supervision.
Maneesh Garg to Oversee Election Planning, EVMs and Key State Zones
Maneesh Garg (IAS:1996), Senior Deputy Election Commissioner, has been entrusted with Election Planning, Election Materials, including Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), EMD and Index Cards.
He will also supervise two geographical zones, namely East-I and North-III.
The East-I zone comprises Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, while North-III covers Uttar Pradesh.
Election Planning-related work under his portfolio will receive support from the Deputy Election Commissioner (PR).
The revised arrangement also establishes an important reporting relationship between Maneesh Garg and Prakash Rajpurohit, with files concerning Election Planning under the latter’s charge required to be submitted through Garg.
Bhanu Prakash Yeturu Assigned Administration and Electoral Roll Responsibilities
Bhanu Prakash Yeturu (IAS:2003), Deputy Election Commissioner, has been assigned a broad range of administrative and election-related responsibilities.
His portfolio includes Administration, Establishment, elections to the offices of the President and Vice-President, Rajya Sabha elections, State Council elections, Internal Functional Division, Electoral Roll, SDR and RTI.
He will also oversee two geographical zones:
North-I: Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.
South-I: Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
The allocation places important administrative functions and electoral roll-related responsibilities under his supervision.
Prakash Rajpurohit Given Election Planning and Model Code of Conduct
Prakash Rajpurohit (IAS:2010), Deputy Election Commissioner, has been assigned Election Planning, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), Delimitation, Library and Official Language.
His geographical responsibilities will extend across North-II and South-III. The North-II zone comprises Delhi, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Chandigarh, while South-III includes Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep.
An important feature of the revised arrangement is that files relating to Election Planning under his charge will be routed through Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Maneesh Garg. This establishes a defined reporting mechanism for coordination between the two officers on election planning matters.
Shubhra Saxena Assigned Political Parties and Expenditure Monitoring
Shubhra Saxena (IAS:2009), Director, has been entrusted with responsibilities relating to Political Parties, Election Expenditure Policy and Political Parties Expenditure Monitoring. Her assignment covers National Parties, State Parties and Registered Unrecognised Political Parties (RUPPs).
She will oversee three geographical zones:
West-I: Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.
West-II: Maharashtra, Goa, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and Daman and Diu.
North East-I: Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.
Files relating to these functional divisions will be submitted through Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Pawan Kumar Sharma. The order also provides for continuity in the reporting arrangement during Saxena’s absence due to leave, official tours or other reasons. In such circumstances, the relevant files will continue to be routed through Dr Pawan Kumar Sharma.
Responsibilities of Director Generals and Other Senior Officials
The Election Commission has also specified the functional responsibilities of officers heading its Director General and Deputy Director General-level divisions. Rakesh Kumar Verma (IAS:1993), Director General of the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM), will oversee International Cooperation, Training and Candidate Expenditure Monitoring.
Ashish Goyal (IInfoS:1996), Director General (Media), will handle Media and the Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) programme, including matters relating to Accessibility and Inclusion.
Dr Seema Khanna, Director General (IT), will continue to oversee IT/ICT and Grievance/PGRS. However, as specified in the revised arrangement, files concerning these divisions will be submitted through Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Dr Pawan Kumar Sharma. Meanwhile, Vijay Kumar Pandey, Deputy Director General (Law), will look after the RCC Section and Registry Section.
