Chhattisgarh's Chief Electoral Officer emphasizes better coordination for successful elections

RAIPUR: Reena Babasaheb Kangale, Chhattisgarh’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), underscored the pivotal role of coordination among returning officers for ensuring the success of elections. Speaking at a training programme for returning officers ahead of the Lok Sabha 2024 elections, she highlighted the importance of seamless collaboration among various teams involved in the electoral process.
The training session, held at the Chhattisgarh Administration Academy in Raipur, witnessed the participation of Chief Election Officer Nilesh Kumar Mahadev Kshirsagar, Joint Chief Election Officer P S Dhruv, and all 11 returning officers, along with deputy district election officers of the Lok Sabha constituencies.
During the five-day certification programme for assistant returning officers, the focus was on enlightening them about their responsibilities and roles during elections. Experts shared insights into crucial aspects such as the code of conduct, candidate eligibility and disqualification, nomination procedures, scrutiny of nomination papers, criminal records, postal ballots, expenditure monitoring, paid news, media complaints, and media monitoring committees.
Adhering to the Election Commission of India's directives, the training also delved into the increasing integration of information technology in the electoral process. Assistant returning officers were acquainted with various applications utilized during elections through a certification program conducted by the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM).
National-level master trainers including KRR Singh, U S Agrawal, Ujjwal Porwal, Shrikant Verma, Pranav Singh, Pulak Bhattacharya, and Geeta Diwan, alongside Deputy Chief Election Officer Vinay Agrawal, Apurva Priyesh Toppo, and Assistant Chief Election Officer Rupesh Verma, provided valuable insights and guidance.