New Delhi [India], February 24 (ANI): The Election Commission of India (ECI) will organise a conference of Chief Electoral Officers of States and Union Territories on March 4-5 at the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management in New Delhi.

This is the first such conference to be held since Gyanesh Kumar assumed charge as Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). A first, the CEOs have been instructed to nominate a DEO and an ERO to take part in the conference.

As statutory authorities, CEOs, DEOs and EROs are important functionaries at the State, District and Assembly Constituency levels. The two-day conference offers a platform for the election officials of the States/UTs to brainstorm and mutually learn from each other's experiences.

On Day 1 of the Conference, participants will discuss key areas of modern election management, including IT Architecture, Effective Communication, enhancing social media outreach, and the statutory role of different functionaries in the electoral processes.

On the second day, the CEOs of States and UTs will present their respective action plans on thematic discussions of the previous day.

Earlier, newly appointed CEC Gyanesh Kumar had assumed charge on February 19 and, in his message to the voters, said that the first step for nation-building was voting.

He further stated that in accordance with the Constitution, the electoral laws and rules issued therein, the Election Commission always stood with the voters.

'The first step for nation-building is voting. Therefore, every citizen of India who has completed 18 years of age should become an elector and should always vote. In accordance with the Constitution of India, electoral laws, rules and instructions issued therein, the Election Commission of India was, is and will always be with the voters,' Kumar said, speaking to the media.

Gyanesh Kumar is a 1988-batch IAS officer from the Kerala cadre and is senior to the two other commissioners on the three-member panel led by Rajiv Kumar. The other commissioners are Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, an officer from the Uttarakhand cadre, and Vivek Joshi.

The other newly appointed Election Commissioner, Vivek Joshi, also assumed charge as the Election Commissioner in pursuance of the Ministry of Law & Justice Gazette notification dated 17.02.2025. He is a 1989 batch officer of the IAS of Haryana carder. (ANI)