Port Blair, Feb. 14: As part of the preparations for the General Election-2019, a training programme for Sector Officers was held in the auditorium of the Anthropological Survey of India today. The Chief Electoral Officer, A&N Islands, Shri K.R. Meena, the Additional Chief Electoral Officer, Shri D. Manikandan, the Returning Officer, A&N Parliamentary Constituency, Shri Udit Prakash Rai attended this training programme and addressed the trainees.

In his address, the Chief Electoral Officer, A&N Islands, Shri K.R. Meena said, Election is a very sensitive and urgent work and the Election Commission of India (ECI) has very clearly documented the procedures to be followed for the conduct of election in a free, fair and transparent manner.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has given detailed instructions and guidelines for RO, Presiding Officers, and Sector Magistrates for discharging their duties effectively and with utmost responsibility. Mentioning that this training programme aims at sensitizin the participants about the overall election procedures, Shri Meena urged them to acquaint themselves with the procedures and get their doubts clarified during the training. “Model Code of Conduct (MCC) must be imposed effectively so that no MCC violation is reported from your assigned jurisdictions”, the CEO cautioned. 

Speaking on the occasion, the Additional Chief Electoral Officer, Shri D. Manikandan said that the participants/trainees should feel proud to be selected as Sector Officers and assigned a responsible work based on their credentials and abilities. “You should be a role model for your conduct as soon as you are engaged in election duty”, he said. Apart from the election booklets provided today, the participants must go through the ECI website to get more exposure, ACEO.

The Returning Officer, A&N Parliamentary Constituency, Shri Udit Prakash Rai said that the sector officers work as field agents to the AROs appointed in each tehsils. The RO informed that for the first time, Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines will be used in all the polling stations in the ensuing Lok Sabah Elections- 2019. VVPAT is intended as an independent verification system for voting machines designed to allow voters to verify that their vote was cast correctly. Awareness about the new VVPAT machine will be created in all the places including Panchayats, the RO added.

The Nodal Officer, MCC, Shri Yash Chaudhary, through a power point presentation covered topics such as Model Code of Conduct and Election Expenditure Monitoring. Hands on training on EVMs and VVPAT was also organised for first-hand knowledge of the participants.

Later in the afternoon, an awareness programme-cum-workshop on Model Code of Conduct was organised for the Police Officials at Police Training School, Prathrapur. The Nodal Officer, MCC, Shri Yash Chaudhary elaborating on MCC said, Model Code of Conduct comes into operation from the day ECI announces the program for election. It aims at maintaining a healthy and peaceful atmosphere conducive to the conduct of smooth elections which also provides level playing field for all parties. 

Shri Ajit Singh Thakur, Assistant Commissioner (S) explained to the Police Officials about their duties and responsibilities on the day of polling. Doubts raised by the participants were clarified on the spot.