Election Commission's one-point dashboard to become operational before Bihar election
The new, integrated dashboard developed by the Election Commission (EC) to provide all services for stakeholders on one platform is set to become operational during the current round of Assembly byelections and the upcoming Bihar Assembly election.
The new integrated dashboard, named 'ECINET', is aimed at providing all services for stakeholders at a single point, instead of the over 40 apps or websites that exist now.
EC sources said that some modules of ECINET will be made available during the current byelection process and by the time the Bihar Assembly election is held, the entire Dashboard will be available for use.
Byelections in five Assembly seats in four States would be held on June 19, 2025.
The ECINET is among the slew of initiatives taken by the poll body since February this year to standardise poll management amid charges made by Opposition parties over myriad issues ranging from anomalies in electoral rolls to duplicate Voter ID card numbers.
It was on February 19 that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar assumed office.
Some of the other initiatives taken by the EC since then include direct integration of death registration data from the Registrar General of India to enable timely and verified removal of deceased electors from the rolls and training of grassroot polling officers to streamline poll management.
The EC has also revised the maximum number of electors per polling station from 1,500 to 1,200. Additional polling booths will be established in densely populated areas such as gated communities and high-rise buildings.
The commission aims to ensure that no voter is required to travel more than 2 km to cast their vote. Voter Information Slips have been redesigned for clarity, with enhanced visibility of serial and part numbers. Mobile Deposit Facility will also be set up at the entrance of every polling station, a senior EC official said.
The EC has also facilitated 4,719 meetings across the country with participation from over 28,000 political party representatives. These include 40 meetings at the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) level, 800 at the District Election Officer (DEO) level, and 3,879 at the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) level.
The commission has also held consultations in New Delhi with leaders of recognised political parties, including the Aam Aadmi Party, Bharatiya Janata Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Communist Party of India (Marxist), and National People's Party, with more meetings with national and State political parties planned after the current byelections.
Training programmes have been conducted for Booth Level Officers (BLOs), BLO Supervisors, and Booth Level Agents (BLAs). Over 3,500 BLOs and BLO Supervisors have been trained and these supervisors will in turn train the larger BLO network of over 10.5 lakh functionaries.
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