Ahmedabad, Sep 11 (IANS) Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar on Friday stressed the need for greater voter participation and transparent electoral processes as he interacted with more than 1,000 Electoral Literacy Club (ELC) members, Booth Level Officers (BLOs), campus ambassadors and other stakeholders at a regional conference on ELC and the ECINET app in Ahmedabad.

Held under the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) flagship SVEEP programme, the conference focused on electoral literacy, informed voting and the use of digital technology to improve transparency in the electoral process.

Kumar said India, with more than 90 crore voters, is the world’s largest democracy and around 1.8 crore personnel, including staff deputed during Lok Sabha elections, are involved in the electoral exercise.

“The entire process, from the electoral roll to voting, is as clear, transparent and impartial as sunlight,” Kumar said, while explaining the safeguards in place during elections.

He said electoral rolls are prepared through the work of more than 11 lakh BLOs and scrutiny by political parties. “The presence of polling and counting agents, along with verification through Form 17C, further ensures transparency during voting and counting,” he said.

Kumar also highlighted India’s current chairmanship of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), an organisation comprising 35 major democracies, saying it reflected international recognition of India’s electoral system.

Urging greater participation among young voters, he said every citizen completing 18 years should be enrolled on the electoral roll and exercise their franchise.

He called upon ELC members to download the ECINET app and help family members and people around them with voter registration.

Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer Sandeep Sagale said the ELC programme, launched under SVEEP in 2018, aims to familiarise young citizens with democratic values and the electoral process.

“Under ELC 2.0, school and college clubs are being developed as year-round, experiential and digital platforms,” he said.

“The effort is to prepare empowered young voters on the foundations of awareness and trust,” Sagale said, adding that more than 40 voter and election-management applications have been brought together on the ECINET platform.

Presentations at the conference covered ELC 2.0, voter education, ECINET, trust and transparency in Indian elections, and its functioning and features. A live demonstration of voter registration, voting and counting was also held.

Ahmedabad District Election Officer and Collector Bhavya Verma said the presentations and demonstrations would help make voter-awareness activities more effective.

Additional Chief Secretary (Higher Education) Mukesh Kumar, Dahod District Development Officer Hiren Barot, Joint Chief Electoral Officers Rinkesh Patel and Devayat Bhamar, among others, attended the conference.

–IANS

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