Lucknow, August 24: The Election Commission of India (ECI) hosted its second regional conference on ‘Electoral Literacy Club (ELC 2.0) and ECI-NET’ in Lucknow on Monday. The event focuses on enhancing electoral literacy and democratic awareness among young citizens through educational institutions.
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar addressed students and teachers from schools and colleges in Uttar Pradesh, emphasizing that students represent the country’s future. He stated that ELCs are essential for advancing knowledge and understanding of electoral processes, thereby enriching democracy.
Kumar explained that elections in India are conducted transparently, adhering to the Constitution, laws, and guidelines issued by the ECI, with oversight from political parties, candidates, or their representatives at every stage. He stressed the importance of familiarizing students and young voters with India’s electoral system, democratic values, voter registration, voting, counting processes, and the role of the Election Commission.
Highlighting the significance of involving young citizens, CEC Gyanesh Kumar remarked that their trust and informed participation in the electoral process is an investment in the future of democracy. The ELCs, with the tagline ‘Learn Democracy, Lead Democracy,’ aim to encourage youth and first-time voters not only to understand democracy but also to participate meaningfully and contribute to its progress.
Earlier in the day, Kumar visited his alma mater, Colvin Taluqdars’ College, where he interacted with teachers and students. On the second day of his visit, he will engage with booth-level officers (BLOs) in Uttar Pradesh.
ELC 2.0 redefines electoral literacy clubs in schools, colleges, and universities as a structured, visible, and digitally enabled platform. This initiative envisions year-round activities to promote electoral literacy among young citizens and raise electoral awareness within their families, educational institutions, and communities.
The ELC 2.0 and ECI-NET will utilize a digital platform that provides all election-related services, from voter lists to voting, at the press of a button. A dedicated ELC portal on ECI-NET will create a systematic network of ELCs across the country.
This initiative is crucial given India’s vast educational ecosystem, which includes approximately 1.5 million schools with around 250 million students and over 1 million teachers. The higher education sector comprises about 1,500 universities and nearly 70,000 educational institutions, with an estimated 43.3 million students enrolled.
Through this extensive institutional network, ELC 2.0 aims to promote fact-based electoral education, raise awareness about the transparency, integrity, and reliability of India’s electoral system, and encourage young citizens to become informed ambassadors of democratic participation.
The platform will also disseminate information about various stages of the electoral process, such as voter registration, voting, and vote counting, while providing insights into the ECI-NET app and other significant initiatives by the Election Commission.
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