New Delhi [India], May 7 : The Election Commission of India has taken an unprecedented step of training field-level election functionaries from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in the Tamil language.
Over 290 participants comprising 264 BLO Supervisors, 14 EROs, two DEOs and other officials are part of this mixed-batch training programme at IIIDEM (India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management), Delhi, according to the Election Commission.
In his inaugural address, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar said that the BLOs are the first interface of the Election Commission of India with the voters and have a vital role in ensuring correct and updated electoral rolls.
With this, nearly 2,300 participants have benefited from intensive training programmes being organised at IIIDEM (India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management) during the past few weeks.
This two-day training programme is in line with the expansive training programme to train election functionaries at all levels, including over 1 lakh BLOs in the country in the next few years.
The BLO supervisors are being trained through interactive sessions, role plays to ensure accurate filling of various forms, including Form 6, 7 and 8. The module includes practical training in the use of IT solutions. These BLO supervisors are being equipped as Assembly Level Master Trainers to train other BLOs.
The participants were also familiarised with the provisions of first and second appeals against the final published electoral rolls with the District Magistrate (DM or an officer of equivalent rank) under section 24(a) of RP Act 1950 and Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of the State or Union Territories under section 24(b) respectively.
It may be recalled that no appeals were filed from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry after the completion of the Special Summary Revision (SSR) exercise as of January 6 to 10, 2025.