Guj EC trains returning officers ahead of assembly polls

The State Election Commission has organised a four-day training at Gandhinagar for a group of returning officers to prepare them for the upcoming assembly polls, to be held later this year.
The training, which culminates tomorrow, is being conducted as part of a certification programme, launched recently by the Election Commission of India.
The first batch of 105 returning officers (ROs), from North Gujarat and Saurashtra-Kutch region, is being trained in election processes, including operating Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Train (VVPAT), among others, Chief Electoral Officer B B Swain said.
The programme was formulated by the Election Commission ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections early this year.

As part of the certification programme, 182 returning officers and 600 assistant returning officers will be provided four-day training in different batches. Training for assistant returning officers will be conducted next month, Swain said.
A month after the training, evaluators from outside the state will take interview of the ROs to assess their election preparedness, after which they will be given certificates, he said.
The Election Commission had recently told the Supreme Court that it will be able to conduct state assembly polls, using EVMs with paper trail, while hearing a petition, seeking direction for the use of VVPAT machines in election due later this year.