Two-Day Training For 600 Officers Who Will Conduct Elections At 150 Booths
Suman Chakraborti TNN
Kolkata: For the first time, all polling booths in Salt Lake, which falls under Barasat parliamentary constituency, will be run solely by women. More than 600 women will be posted as poll officers at 150 booths.
Guided by the election commission, the Bidhannagar subdivisional administration is organizing a training programme for women poll officers who will be on duty at these booths. The first phase of the programme was held on Sunday. “These women officers are mainly being trained on how to handle the entire polling process. This involves two issues — handling the normal procedure of election and how to deal with special situations,” said an official of the Bidhannagar subdivisional administration. Another round of training will be conducted in the first week of May.
Handbooks have been circulated among all women officers where all issues — crisis that may arise on the poll day and ways to tackle them — have been addressed.
According to sources, the administration chose Salt Lake booths for all-women deployment as they have proper infrastructure — including toilets and washrooms — for women officers. Special attention is being given to ensure foolproof security and other logistics — like pick-and-drop facility — so that these women officials do not face any trouble on duty.
“The response has been very good. These women officers are being encouraged by their families as well. It is a very positive step towards women empowerment,” said the official. The authorities have organized for Powerpoint presentations oninstructions that the officers should follow to handle the poll procedure and also giving live demonstrations on the functioning of the EVM.
Women government employees who attended the first phase of the training programme on Sunday said they were excited over the prospect of handling poll booths all by themselves. “The training was also very informative and helpful,” one of the officers said.
Women officers at Sunday’s training programme organized by the Bidhannagar administration
