The Election Commission (EC) on Thursday approved the appointment of senior IAS officer R Alice Vaz as the chief electoral officer (CEO) of Delhi, ahead of the assembly elections in the city due next February.

Vaz, a 2005 batch IAS officer of the AGMUT cadre, is serving as secretary in Delhi's Directorate of Higher Education. She will replace P Krishnamurthy, who was appointed as Delhi CEO in August 2023.

Last month, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved the appointment of Krishnamurthy as the chairperson of the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority.

The Election Commission, in an order, said, "The Commission has approved the name of R Alice Vaz, IAS (AGMUT: 2005) for the appointment as the chief electoral officer, NCT of Delhi, in place of P Krishnamurthy, IAS.

Vaz, a resident of Tamil Nadu, has become an IAS officer from nurse. She graduated in nursing from MGR Medical, Chennai after which, she cleared the UPSC exams.

So far she has held various posts across many states. Her first posting was in West Bengal, where she was posted in different districts. Then she stayed in Puducherry for a long time. In 2020, she was transferred to Delhi and has served as Labour Director under Delhi Government. Also, she served as Joint Secretary in Delhi Jal Board and was posted in the Higher and Technical Education department.

This move by the Election Commission is part of its regular practice of appointing chief electoral officers in consultation with state governments, ensuring efficient election management throughout the Union Territories and states. In view of the Delhi Assembly elections, amendment in the draft voter list published by the Election Commission is currently underway. The final voter list will be published on January 6, 2025. There are over 13,000 polling booths in different districts of Delhi. In the last one year, the number of voters in Delhi has increased by about five lakh.