EC renews outreach plans for Gen Alpha, Z

The Election Commission (EC) has initiated renewed efforts to reach out to Gen Alpha and Z ahead of the 2029 Lok Sabha polls to make them aware voters who are well-acquainted with the electoral process and can lead future campaigns to educate people.

As part of its revamped campaign, the poll authority will target schoolchildren from classes 9 to 12, colleges and universities across the 4,123 Assembly constituencies of India.

According to EC officials, there are a total of 14.78 crore people in the 18-26 age group, including 7.98 crore males, 6.79 crore females and 9,000 third gender.

The poll authority plans to set up 50,000 Electoral Literacy Clubs (ELCs) with 10 such bodies per Assembly constituency, the officials said.

For this, it will contact students of classes 9 to 12 in 15 lakh schools. Besides, it will reach out to 70,000 colleges and 1,400 universities.

ELCs were set up in 2018 as part of the Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) programme to introduce students to democratic values, the electoral process and the role and functioning of the EC.

However, in view of the rapidly evolving communication ecosystem, increasing reliance on digital platforms and the need for sustained, structured and direct engagement with young electors and grassroots stakeholders, ELC 2.0 reimagines these clubs as a digitally enabled, structured and continuously engaging framework.