At IIIDEM, the Election Commission has started a comprehensive training program for more than one lakh Booth Level Officers (BLOs). To improve election management, the first group of Assembly Level Master Trainers from Bihar, West Bengal, and Assam is participating in a two-day hands-on training.
In an official statement, it said, “CEC Shri Gyanesh Kumar inaugurated the first ever training of BLOS along with EC Dr. Vivek Joshi at India International Institute of Democracy & Election Management (IIIDEM), New Delhi today. Over 1 lakh BLOs with an average of one BLO per 10 polling stations will be trained in such training programmes over the next few years. These well-trained BLOs will form a corps of Assembly Level Master Trainers (ALMTs) to strengthen the entire network of BLOs nationwide, who are the first and most important interface between the 100 Crore electors and the Commission.”
The statement of the Election Commission further mentioned that this unique capacity-building program will continue in phases, focusing first on poll-bound states. Currently, 109 BLOs from Bihar, West Bengal, and Assam are participating in this 2-day residential training programme along with 24 EROs and 13 DEOs from Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, and Tamil Nadu.
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Mentioning the roles and responsibilities it said, “The training is planned to familiarise the BLOs with their roles and responsibilities as per the RP Act 1950, the Registration of Elector Rules 1960 and instructions of the Commission issued from time to time and to equip them with requirements of filling relevant forms for an error free updation of electoral rolls. They will be familiarised with IT applications designed to support their work.”
With the consent of the District Election Officers (DEOs), the Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) appoint BLOs, who are representatives of the State Government. While acknowledging the crucial role that EROs and BLOs play in updating electoral rolls without errors, CEC Shri Gyanesh Kumar emphasised that state governments should designate SDM-level or equivalent officers as EROs. These officials should then select BLOs, taking into account their seniority and being regular residents of the polling station that they oversee.
CEC emphasised that only Indian residents who are at least eighteen years old and regularly reside in the constituency are eligible to register as voters under Article 326 of the Constitution and Section 20 of the RP Act 1950.
He recalls giving all CEOs, DEOS, and EROs instructions to hold all-party meetings at their various levels and to address matters pertaining to their individual jurisdictions, such as updating electoral rolls accurately. Additionally, he issued a warning that any complaints made against BLO or ERO will be rigorously handled. It is important for all BLOs to interact politely with voters, he stated. During the process of updating electoral records by house-to-house verification. He claimed that with about 100 crore voters, the Commission has been, is, and always will be.