The Election Commission of India (ECI) launched Electoral Literacy Clubs (ELC 2.0) during a conference on "Electoral Literacy Clubs and ECINet" held at Gyan Bhawan, Patna on August 17, 2026. Chief Election Commissioner Shri Gyanesh Kumar addressed the conference, emphasizing the role educational institutions can play in strengthening trust in electoral processes, enhancing electoral literacy, and promoting informed democratic participation.
In his opening address, CEC Kumar stated that elections in India are conducted strictly according to the Constitution, laws, and ECI instructions, with transparent processes under concurrent audit by political parties and candidates at all stages. He underlined the need to familiarize students and young electors with India's electoral system, democratic values, registration processes, polling and counting procedures, and the ECI's role and functioning. Kumar emphasized that engaging young citizens and securing their trust in the electoral process represents an investment in democracy's future.
The initiative unveiled a new ELC logo with the tagline "Learn Democracy. Lead Democracy," aimed at encouraging young and first-time voters to both understand democracy and participate meaningfully in its progress. ELC 2.0 reimagines Electoral Literacy Clubs as structured, visible, and digitally enabled platforms across schools, colleges, and universities, envisioning continuous year-round activities to promote electoral literacy among young citizens and electoral awareness within their families, institutions, and communities.
The program will leverage the extensive ECINet digital platform, which provides all election-related services from voter roll to polling at the click of a button. A streamlined pan-India network of ELCs will be cultivated using a dedicated ELC portal on ECINet. The initiative gains significance given India's extensive educational ecosystem, comprising approximately 15 lakh schools with nearly 25 crore students and over one crore teachers, plus nearly 1,500 universities and around 70,000 higher educational institutions with an estimated enrolment of 4.33 crore students.
Through this institutional network, ELC 2.0 seeks to promote factual and experiential electoral education, enhance awareness about the transparency, integrity and credibility of India's electoral system, and encourage young citizens to become ambassadors of informed democratic participation. The ELCs will serve as platforms for disseminating information about different stages of the electoral process, including electoral registration, polling and counting, along with the ECINET App and other key ECI initiatives.
During his two-day visit to Bihar on August 16-17, 2026, CEC Kumar also held a meeting with Booth Level Officers (BLOs) at the Rajgir International Convention Centre, Nalanda, and undertook field visits in Madhubani, Vaishali and Nalanda.