EC tests Bengal police chiefs on poll readiness with MCQ exam ahead of elections
Telegraph | 26 March 2026
The police commissioners and the superintendents of police across Bengal were made to take multiple choice question examination on Wednesday by the Election Commission of India to test their poll preparedness.
The exam was conducted by the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM), an institution set up by the ECI mostly to impart training to poll officials.
All the police officers of the rank of an SP and CP were sent a link to a Google Form where they were asked to answer 30 multiple choice questions on Wednesday evening.
The questions were “simple”, said officers who appeared for the examination.
“I spent a lot of time preparing for this exam. But the questions were relatively easy,” said an officer.
“There were questions on what should the police do if voters of an area were feeling intimidated or why coordination between the central and state force nodal officers was needed,” said an officer who is posted as the superintendent of police in south Bengal.
The officers were marked on the basis of their answers. By the end of the test, each officer knew how much he or she had scored.
Sources in the ECI said this was an exercise to keep the officers rooted to the rulebook.
“We want all the officers to strictly follow the guidelines. But for that they need to know everything. This was a small test to make them go through the basics,” said an EC official.
The IIIDEM that, according to its website, specialises in conducting training programmes on holding free and flawless elections, is headquartered at Dwarka in Delhi and has conducted a total of more than 140 international programmes, training more than 3000 trainees from more than 141 countries as on May 31, 2025. The website also claims that the institution also conducts hundreds of domestic trainings annually across the country.
Several officers Metro spoke to said they have not appeared for a similar election-related test in the past.
“I am not sure if we will have similar tests again. But I have not appeared for any test like this in my career. Honestly, I am not sure if we needed a test to remind us on how to conduct an election,” said an officer.
Sources said the test was “mandatory” for all CPs and SPs in the state.