- One day training and interaction programme organised at IIIDEM, New Delhi
The Election Commission of India organized the second one-day national conference for media and communication officials at the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM) in New Delhi. Held on Friday, July 3rd, the conference was attended by over 260 participants, including media nodal officers, social media nodal officers, district public relations officers, and senior officials from state public relations departments from various districts across 16 states and union territories. The Assistant Chief Electoral Officer, Additional Director of Public Relations Department, and district public relations officers from all 33 districts of Chhattisgarh attended the conference.
Addressing the conference, Chief Election Commissioner Shri Gyanesh Kumar said that every action of the Election Commission of India is conducted in accordance with the Constitution, electoral laws, and the transparent guidelines issued by the Commission from time to time. He emphasized the need to be vigilant against misleading and fake information circulating on social media and the active role of media and communication officials in curbing misinformation through the effective dissemination of factual information. He said that the record voter turnout in the recent assembly elections reflects the deep faith of Indian voters in the electoral system.
Election Commissioner Dr. Vivek Joshi, highlighting the challenges posed by artificial intelligence (AI), deepfakes, and misleading digital content in the digital age, urged officials to effectively address these challenges in accordance with the Commission’s guidelines. He also placed special emphasis on engaging young voters in the electoral process through electoral literacy clubs.
The conference included detailed technical and practical sessions on communication strategies related to various stages of the electoral process, voter list management, the polling and counting process, ECINET, constitutional and legal provisions, media management, press release writing, effective use of social media, and management of misinformation. Participants were given hands-on demonstrations of the electoral process in groups and were also given a tour of the exhibition and media corner. During the event, officials from states that recently conducted elections shared their experiences in election management and mass communication and discussed best practices for effective communication. The conference concluded with a question-and-answer session between participants and officials from the Election Commission of India.
