CEC Gyanesh Kumar calls upon Academia to strengthen informed democratic participation

The Election Commission of India (ECI) launched Electoral Literacy Clubs (ELC 2.0) at a conference in Patna on 17 August 2026. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said educational institutions can strengthen trust in electoral processes by familiarising students with the electoral system, registration, polling, counting and the role of the ECI. ELC 2.0 will be a digitally‑enabled network across schools, colleges and universities, using the ECINet platform and a dedicated portal. The initiative cites India’s educational ecosystem of about 15 lakh schools, 25 crore students, 1 crore teachers and 1,500 universities with 4.33 crore enrolments, aiming to create informed democratic participation among young citizens.