Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Friday described students as the “torchbearers of tomorrow’s democracy” and stressed the need to strengthen electoral literacy and democratic awareness among young citizens.
Addressing the fifth regional conference on “Electoral Literacy Clubs and ECINET” organised by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in Ahmedabad, Kumar said Electoral Literacy Clubs (ELCs) across the country would help strengthen the backbone of the world’s oldest and largest democracy.
The conference brought together students and teachers from schools, colleges and universities across Gujarat. Kumar said young citizens’ understanding of electoral processes and their informed participation in elections were critical to the future of democracy.
He urged students and young electors to familiarise themselves with India’s electoral system, democratic values, electoral registration, polling and counting processes, as well as the role and functioning of the Election Commission of India.
The CEC also emphasised that elections in India are conducted strictly in accordance with the Constitution, laws and instructions issued by the ECI. He said the electoral process is conducted transparently under the concurrent audit of political parties, candidates and their representatives at all stages.
ELC 2.0 to promote year-round electoral literacy
The conference highlighted ELC 2.0, which carries the tagline “Learn Democracy. Lead Democracy.” The initiative seeks to transform Electoral Literacy Clubs into structured, visible and digitally enabled platforms across schools, colleges and universities.
The initiative will use the ECINET digital platform, which provides election-related services from roll to poll, to promote continuous, year-round electoral literacy activities through a dedicated ELC portal and create a streamlined pan-India network of Electoral Literacy Clubs.
The ECI said the initiative assumes significance given the scale of India’s educational ecosystem, which includes approximately 15 lakh schools, nearly 25 crore students and more than one crore teachers.
The higher education sector comprises nearly 1,500 universities and around 70,000 educational institutions, with an estimated enrolment of 4.33 crore students.
Through this extensive institutional network, ELC 2.0 aims to promote factual and experiential electoral education, improve awareness of India’s electoral system and encourage young citizens to become ambassadors of informed democratic participation.
The clubs will also disseminate information on electoral registration, polling, counting, the ECINET App and other key initiatives of the Election Commission.
CEC interacts with Gujarat BLOs
Earlier in the day, Kumar held an interactive session with more than 500 Booth Level Officers (BLOs) from Gujarat and congratulated them for their services in the smooth execution of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Electoral Rolls in the state.
Students and BLOs also participated in a question-and-answer session with the CEC, during which the BLOs were able to seek clarifications on issues related to their work.
The Ahmedabad conference follows four earlier regional conferences on Electoral Literacy Clubs and ECINET held in Patna, Lucknow, Chennai and Margao.
