The Election Commission of India has now taken another unprecedented step of training field-level election functionaries from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in ‘Tamil language. 293 participants comprising 264 BLO Supervisors, 14 EROs, 2 DEOs and other officials are part of this mixed-batch training programme at IIIDEM, Delhi.

In his inaugural address Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Shri 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 during the past few weeks. This 2-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 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 & 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/UT 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 6th-10th of January 2025.