EC training officials from 19 countries

Even as it is conducting the Lok Sabha polls, the Election Commission is also holding a training course on election management for officials from 19 countries.

Sources said officials from Bhutan, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Congo, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Georgia, Ghana, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Lesotho, Malaysia, Palestine, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Sudan, Tajikistan, Tanzania and Yemen were taking part in the course.

The poll panel will provide theoretical and practical exposure to the officials.

The course is the third in the last two years under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme of the external affairs ministry as there was a lot of demand for it, the sources said.

The "Third Special Course on Election Management" began April 9 and will conclude April 23.

The visiting officials have learnt about various aspects of election management, including use of electronic voting machines (EVMS).

The course is being conducted by the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM) in the Election Commission.

ITEC is a flagship capacity-building programme of the ministry under the "south-south cooperation framework". Started in 1964 with a modest 75 civilian training programme slots, the ITEC had 8,280 such slots in 2013-14.

"Last year, 10,000 scholarships were there in civil and defence training programmes," an official said.