CEC Kumar asks EC to use latest tech to train election officials

PTI, New Delhi, Jun 6, 2023 :  Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Tuesday asked Election Commission’s training arm to use latest technology, including artificial intelligence, to train poll officials.

The India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM) is the training and capacity building arm of the Election Commission established in 2011 to train, prepare and equip election officials and other stakeholders for delivery of free, fair, credible elections.

“The election processes are so robust that all guidelines, information, and forms have been codified and standardised. They need to be integrated in a way through AI tools for easy reference, search and interactive training,” the CEC said.

He felt that as the world’s largest democracy, the IIIDEM needs to expand collaboration for training election officials in other democracies as well.

Kumar made these remarks at the inauguration of IIIDM’s hostel block here.

According to an EC statement, Election Commissioner Anup Chandra Pandey emphasised that conducting elections in India with clock-work precision in more than 10 lakh polling stations with one crore poll officials is possible with proper training.

He said an institution of the stature of IIIDEM serves the critical need for ensuring free and fair elections.

He noted that the IIIDEM provides a platform for exchange of ideas and experiences and adoption of best practices in the field of election management from other election management bodies.

Election Commissioner Arun Goel, while congratulating the IIIDEM officials, said the institution must become a fulcrum of thought process, debates and discussions around democracy.

While acknowledging that the election staff was the best trained in the government sector, Goel emphasised that the IIIDEM has to now be in tune with the latest trends to train the staff for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The hostel building inaugurated Tuesday has 84 rooms and nine suites.

Besides training election officials in India, the IIIDEM also organises training programmes for election management bodies world over. Till date, 2,478 international participants from 117 countries have benefitted through 122 programmes conducted by the IIIDEM.