Goa, 3 September 2026

 

Electoral Literacy Clubs (ELCs) have an important role in empowering young citizens to understand electoral processes, uphold truth and strengthen democracy, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Shri Gyanesh Kumar said on Thursday. He was speaking at the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) fourth regional conference organised on “Electoral Literacy Clubs (ELC 2.0) and ECINet” at Ravindra Bhavan, Madgaon, South Goa.

Addressing students and teachers from schools, colleges and universities across Goa, Shri Gyanesh Kumar said students are the future of India and that ELCs across the country would help strengthen the world’s largest democracy. He described ELCs as important platforms for students to understand electoral processes and democratic values.

The CEC also said that elections in India are held strictly in accordance with the Constitution, laws and instructions issued by the ECI. He said elections are conducted transparently under the concurrent audit of recognised political parties, candidates or their representatives at all stages.

Kumar highlighted ECINet as a vehicle of transparency for electors across the country. The unified digital platform provides election-related services and information, strengthening access to electoral services for citizens.

The programme also included a question-and-answer session during which students interacted with the CEC.

Under ELC 2.0, with the tagline “Learn Democracy, Lead Democracy”, Electoral Literacy Clubs are being reimagined as structured, visible and digitally enabled platforms across schools, colleges and universities. The initiative aims to encourage young and first-time voters to understand democracy and participate meaningfully in the electoral process.

Leveraging the ECINet digital platform, which provides election-related services from roll to poll, ELC 2.0 will facilitate continuous, year-round electoral literacy activities through a dedicated ELC portal and build a streamlined pan-India network of Electoral Literacy Clubs.

The initiative gains significance given the scale of India’s educational ecosystem. The country has approximately 15 lakh schools with nearly 25 crore students and more than one crore teachers, while 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 seeks 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. ELCs will also disseminate information on electoral registration, polling, counting, the ECINet App and other key ECI initiatives.

Shri Gyanesh Kumar was on a two-day visit to Goa to interact with Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and ELC members from across the state. During an interactive session with more than 1,000 BLOs on Wednesday, he commended their dedicated service and contribution to the smooth conduct of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Electoral Rolls in the state.

 

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