Thiruvananthapuram, April 10 Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, V D Satheesan, on Friday raised concerns over the state government’s decision to roll out the latest version of the e-Office system and urged the EC to examine the matter and direct a postponement of the software upgrade.
In a letter to the Kerala Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Satheesan said that during the rollout, scheduled from 10 pm on April 10 to 10 am on April 15, the e-Office system would be inaccessible, halting the regular digital process for handling files and issuing government orders.
He said that the government had issued a circular directing that, during this period, no new orders be initiated and that, in emergencies, orders may be issued in hard copy, with details to be entered into the system later.
Satheesan claimed that this arrangement raises serious concerns, as the temporary shift to manual processes “reduces transparency and weakens the audit trail of official decisions.”
“This creates a possibility of misuse during a sensitive election period, when strict adherence to transparency and accountability is essential.
“The timing of the rollout is also a matter of concern, as a major system change that disrupts normal governance and relies on manual intervention should ideally be avoided when the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) is in force,” the opposition leader said in his letter.
He claimed that such a move may affect the level playing field that the MCC seeks to ensure.
“This also raises concerns that contentious files could be manipulated or processed improperly under the guise of the IT upgrade,” he contended, and requested that the Election Commission examine the matter urgently and direct the state government to postpone the rollout until the election process is over.