Lucknow: The Election Commission of India will strengthen its Electoral Literacy Clubs in schools, colleges and universities to help young people understand elections and participate more actively in democracy.CEC Gyanesh Kumar announced the initiative while addressing students and teachers from Uttar Pradesh at a regional conference on Electoral Literacy Clubs 2.0 and ECINET in Lucknow on Monday.Calling students the future of the world’s largest democracy, Kumar said young citizens should know how elections are conducted, how voters are registered, how voting takes place and how votes are counted. He said informed and active participation by young voters would strengthen democracy.“Learn Democracy. Lead Democracy.” is the tagline of the ELC 2.0 initiative. It aims to reach young people, especially those preparing to vote for the first time, and help them understand their rights and responsibilities as citizens.Political parties, candidates and their representatives monitor the process at different stages, he said, making the system transparent.ELCs will be developed as organised and digitally connected platforms in educational institutions. They will conduct activities throughout the year instead of limiting voter awareness programmes to election periods.The clubs will explain important aspects of elections in simple language. These will include voter registration, checking names on electoral rolls, voting procedures, counting of votes and the role of the EC.The programme will be linked to ECINET app that offers several election services through a single system. A separate ELC portal on ECINET will help connect ELCs across the country and allow their activities to be coordinated more effectively.The initiative is aimed at using India’s vast education network to spread awareness about elections. The country has nearly 15 lakh schools with around 25 crore students and over one crore teachers. Its higher education system includes nearly 1,500 universities and about 70,000 institutions, with around 4.33 crore students.The EC said the programme would promote awareness based on facts and experience and encourage students to become responsible voters and active participants in democracy.
