Coimbatore Corporation that has divided the city into 95 election zones trained the first-level officers at the Corporation Kalaiarangam in R.S. Puram on Saturday.
According to a press release, Commissioner Raja Gopal Sunkara, who inaugurated the training programme, said each of the 95 election zones would have a zonal officer, an assistant zonal officer and an assistant. Plus, there would be 10 zonal reserve teams
In all, the Corporation would deploy 315 personnel in the 95 election zones. The zonal personnel who would undergo the training on Saturday would in turn train staff to be deployed in booths on the polling day.
The Corporation would organise that second-level training on January 31 at in the North Zone at PSG College of Technology , in the East Zone at the Ramanathapuram Girls’ Hr. Sec. School, in West Zone at the R.S. Puram Girls’ Hr. Sec. School, in the South Zone at the Kuniamuthur R.K.V. Hr. Sec. School and in the Central Zone at Nirmala College for Women. There they would be told how to conduct the urban local bodies polls, how to fill forms and operate control and ballot units. The Commissioner told the election zone officials that though the Corporation would use electronic voting machines it would not use voter verified paper audit trail machines and there would be no provision to vote NOTA.
At the January 31 training centres, the Corporation had made arrangements for polling staff to cast their votes using postal ballots by issuing Form 15. And, there they should follow COVID-19 protocol as mandated by the State Election Commission.
Corporation Deputy Commissioner M. Sharmila, assistant commissioners and others participated in the Saturday’s training programme.
The Corporation also cleaned the Victoria Town Hall that housed the Council. Workers removed furniture, dusted the walls and cleaned the area to ensure that the place was ready to welcome the persons to be elected councillors.