The Election Commission of India held its fifth regional conference on Electoral Literacy Clubs in Ahmedabad on September 11, 2026. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar stressed the role of students in strengthening India’s democracy through these clubs. The event brought together students and teachers from schools, colleges and universities across Gujarat.
What the Election Commission is doing
The Election Commission is expanding Electoral Literacy Clubs, or ELCs, as part of a new initiative called ELC 2.0 with the tagline “Learn Democracy. Lead Democracy.” These clubs will operate across India’s educational institutions as structured, visible and digitally-enabled platforms.
The scope is substantial. India has approximately 15 lakh schools with nearly 25 crore students and over one crore teachers. The higher education sector contains nearly 1,500 universities and around 70,000 educational institutions with an estimated 4.33 crore students enrolled.
ELC 2.0 will use the ECINET digital platform, which handles election-related services, to run year-round electoral literacy activities through a dedicated ELC portal. This will create a network of clubs across the country.
The initiative focuses on helping young and first-time voters understand India’s electoral system, democratic values, electoral registration, polling and counting processes, and the role of the Election Commission. ELCs will also share information about the ECINET App and other Commission initiatives.
The Chief Election Commissioner also met with over 500 Booth Level Officers from Gujarat, thanking them for their work during the Special Intensive Revision of Electoral Rolls in the state. A question-and-answer session allowed BLOs to discuss their concerns directly with the CEC.
Earlier regional conferences on the same topic were held in Patna, Lucknow, Chennai and Margao.
What this means for you
If you are a student in school, college or university, your institution may soon have an Electoral Literacy Club as a formal platform to learn how Indian elections work. The goal is to help young voters participate more consciously in democracy. Through these clubs and the ECINET App, students will have easier access to information about voter registration, polling procedures and how the Election Commission functions.