1. The Election Commission of India (ECI) organised its fourth regional conference on "Electoral Literacy Clubs (ELC 2.0) and ECINet" in Goa today, focusing on strengthening electoral literacy and democratic awareness among young citizens. Addressing the gathering, CEC Shri Gyanesh Kumar said that the students are the future of India. He added that Electoral Literacy Clubs across India will help strengthen the world's largest democracy.
2. Addressing the students and teachers from schools, colleges and universities across Goa, CEC Shri Gyanesh Kumar stated that ELCs are important platforms for students to understand electoral processes and democratic values.
3. The Chief Election Commissioner also underlined that elections in India are held strictly as per the Constitution of India, law and instructions issued by ECI and are conducted transparently under the concurrent audit of recognised political parties, candidates or their representatives at all stages.
4. CEC also highlighted ECINet as the vehicle of transparency for electors across the country, providing a unified digital platform for election-related services and information.
5. ELC 2.0, with the tagline "Learn Democracy. Lead Democracy.", reimagines Electoral Literacy Clubs as structured, visible and digitally enabled platforms across schools, colleges and universities, encouraging young and first-time voters to understand and meaningfully participate in democracy. Leveraging the extensive ECINet digital platform, which provides all election-related services from roll to poll, the initiative will drive continuous, year-round electoral literacy activities through a dedicated ELC portal, building a streamlined pan-India network of ELCs.
6. The initiative assumes significance in view of India’s extensive educational ecosystem, comprising approximately 15 lakh schools with nearly 25 crore students and over 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.
7. Through this extensive institutional network, ELC 2.0 seeks to promote factual and experiential electoral education, enhance awareness of India’s electoral system, and encourage young citizens to become ambassadors of informed democratic participation. The ELCs will also disseminate information on electoral registration, polling, counting, ECINet App and other key ECI initiatives.
8. CEC 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. Yesterday, during an interactive session with over 1,000 BLOs, he commended their dedicated service and contribution to the smooth conduct of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the Electoral Rolls in the State.
9. The students also had a Question-and-Answer session with the CEC as part of the meeting.

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