Series of training programmes for ensuing General Elections -2024

Port Blair, Mar.10:As part of the preparations for the ensuing General Elections -2024, the Election Department, A&N Islands is organising series of training programmes for the personnel engaged in Election Duty. In this connection, the first round training for personnel engaged in Election duty for Ferrargunj Tehsil was organised today at the DBRAIT auditorium. About 440 participants attended the training. The Chief Electoral Officer, A&N Islands Parliamentary Constituency (ANIPC), Shri B.S. Jaglan, IAS visited the training centre and reviewed the arrangements at Election Training Centre at DBRAIT Auditorium.

      Addressing the trainees on the occasion, the Chief Electoral Officer reiterated that all personnel engaged in election duty irrespective of their assigned duties have to play a vital role in the smooth conduct of polling on the day of poll. The CEO said, the officials manning the Polling Booth have to complete all the election procedures step by step before the start of the Polling on the Poll day. The Presiding Officers has to maintain the two hourly poll percentages of their respective Polling Booths which will be collected by the RO Office.

      The trainees have to take up the training seriously for the smooth conduct of polling at their respective booth to avoid any hiccups on the poll day, he said.  The Chief Electoral Officer sought the cooperation and active involvement of all officials involved in the election process in the conduct of smooth, free, fair & transparent elections in A&N Islands Parliamentary Constituency. He appreciated the arrangements made by Returning Officer, ANIPC/DC(SA), Shri Arjun Sharma, IAS and Assistant Returning Officer/AC(Settlement), Shri Anand Vardhan Mishra, DANICS. CEO also interacted with the trainers and participants.

      In his address, the Returning Officer, ANIPC, Shri Arjun Sharma, IAS said, it is very important for the officials engaged in Election Duty to set up their respective polling booth in a proper manner taking extra care for the VVPAT machine for the smooth conduct of the Election on the poll day. He said, mock polls have to be conducted without fail in the presence of the contesting candidate/agent to the extent possible. The RO further stated that polling kits will be issued to the Polling Teams from Netaji Stadium and they have to check whether all the items are available inside the kit before they leave for their respective Polling Stations.

       Initiating the training, the Resource person, Shri Som Naidu, DANICS (Retd.), through a power point presentation briefed about the roles and responsibilities of the Presiding Officers and the other officials engaged in Election Duty pertaining to conduct of elections in the UTs. He stated that Presiding Officer is the main person from the Commission point of view during the election, particularly on the day of polling for the smooth conduct of voting. As per the election manual, Presiding Officer is the key officer at their respective polling booths where he/she has to oversee the entire arrangement inside the booth. Shri Som Naidu further stated that the polling should start in all the polling booths sharp at 7 AM without fail for which all the Polling Officials have to be in their respective booths early so as to complete all the formalities including mock polls for the smooth start of the voting on the day of poll.

       Shri Amar Kumar Singh, enlightened the participants about Cvigil app which is a mobile application developed by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to enable citizens to report violations of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) during elections. To report a violation, users simply need to open the app, select the type of violation, and provide details of the incident, including location, time, and photographs or videos. The app also allows users to track the progress of their complaints, he said.

       Later, a hands on training on EVM and VVPAT machine was carried out by the Master Trainer, Shri M. Papa Rao. The Presiding Officers and other polling personnel witnessed the demonstration of EVM & VVPAT and also engaged themselves on hands on training for better familiarization with it.

    Similar trainings will be held at following centres for AEROs, Master trainers, Sector Officers, Model Code  of Conduct teams, FST & SST teams, polling personnel :-