New Delhi, June 23 (IANS) With a sharp focus on strengthening India’s electoral process, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday kickstarted a two-day capacity-building programme for 379 Booth Level Officer (BLO) Supervisors at the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM) in New Delhi.

Inaugurating the 13th batch of this national-level training initiative, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar underscored the critical role played by BLOs in ensuring free, fair, and legally-sound polls.

The participants in this round include officers from Uttar Pradesh (111), Madhya Pradesh (128), Nagaland (67), Meghalaya (66), and Chandigarh (7).

During his address, the CEC said that “these training programmes are essential to ensure that the preparation of electoral rolls and the polls are conducted strictly in accordance with the Representation of the People Act 1950 and 1951, Registration of Electors Rules 1960, Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 and the instructions issued by the ECI from time to time.”

“There can be nothing more transparent than law in any democracy,” he remarked, reaffirming that India’s elections are guided solely by legal norms.

He also highlighted the importance of acquainting field officials with the appeal mechanisms under Section 24 of the RP Act and urged the officers to spread awareness among voters about their rights to file first and second appeals regarding electoral roll discrepancies — first to the District Magistrate and then to the State Chief Electoral Officer.

According to the poll panel, no appeals were filed from Meghalaya, Nagaland, Madhya Pradesh, Chandigarh and Uttar Pradesh after the completion of the Special Summary Revision (SSR) exercise as of January 6-10 of 2025.

It is pertinent to note here that the training is designed to enhance participants’ practical understanding, especially in the areas of voter registration, form handling, and field-level implementation of electoral procedures.

Participants will also receive practical training on the IT tools. The officials will also be provided technical demonstrations and training of EVMs and VVPATs including mock polls.

–IANS

sas/rad