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National Elections Quiz (NEQ) 2018, a pan-India knowledge venture on elections and electoral processes is perhaps the World's largest inter school quiz contest on elections witnessing an astounding participation of 13,63,982 students from 38,160 schools! A brainchild of the Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation SVEEP division of the Election Commission of India, it is aimed as an outreach initiative for the future electors of the country dedicated to ECI's theme for the year 2017, Empowering Young and Future Electors. NEQ is an extension of the Interactive School Engagement (ISE) programme (Phase I and Phase II) that covered more than 55 lakh students from nearly 30,000 schools. NEQ 2018, the integrated communicative effort that started in November 2017, concluded on the 16th of January, 2018 with the Grand Finale taking place at the Rajya Sabha TV Studios in New Delhi. Planned in a ladder-like structure, the overall aim of the endeavour is- To engage high-school students from Classes IX to XII (in the age-group of 14-17 years) – the future voters of India, in a self-learning exercise about elections and electoral process and aid in building an aware and informed electorate of the future. Treading the length and breadth of the country, the structure of NEQ 2018 adhered to the following outline- Level 1: The Intra-School Round Scheduled between the 1st and 15th of November 2017, the Intra-School Round comprised a set of functional and essential questions testing the participants' basic electoral knowledge. The competition was organized entirely by schools within their campus ambits with content assistance from Election Commission of India and the District Election Officers. The winners advanced to the next stage of the Quiz. Level 2: The District Round Organized between 27th November to 3rd December 2017, the District Round was a collaborative effort shared by the District Election Officers (DEOs) and the District Education Departments. The participants competed through a written question paper of moderate difficulty. The two-member teams scoring the highest advanced to the State Round. Level 3: The State Round Planned around the year-end as the penultimate on-stage event with several rounds of rigorous quizzing, the State Round for NEQ 2018 witnessed the transfer of batons to the Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) who served as bandmasters for the final level before letting the scene shift to the National Capital. Delhi Darshan With the NEQ Nationals itinerary beginning from the 13th of January, 2018 (Saturday), the NEQ State acers were congratulated at the Commission Headquarters (Nirvachan Sadan) by Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Umesh Sinha and Director (SVEEP) Padma Angmo who extended their best wishes before the participants were taken on a guided tour of the city- to the Rashtrapati Bhavan and the Qutb Complex. Staggered across the following two days, the educative trip or, the Delhi Darshan, also included visits to popular places of attraction like, the Red Fort, Humayun's Tomb, Elections Museum, Gandhi Smriti and the Birla Mandir. As a bonus, participants also visited NEQ's partner- Facebook India's office in Delhi. NEQ Collaborations Taking place over the course of 3 days from the 14th January, 2018 to 16th January, 2018 at the Rajya Sabha TV Studios in New Delhi and receiving content support from Jesus and Mary College and Ambedkar University, the Zonal Finals and the Grand Finale of NEQ 2018 included questions on the following themes and many more- Elections in India, The Election Commission of lndia, History of Democracies and Elections, Voting Processes, Voter Education and Literacy, National Voters' Day & its Inception, Electoral Technology, Electoral Terminology Rules- The Model Code of Conduct, Landmark Steps and Measures, Popular Stories, Personalities, Elections across the world, Electoral Management Bodies, Types of Elections, International Electoral Organizations and Foundations, Popular Culture and Elections, Election Symbols, Elections to Local Bodies, Women and Elections, Constituent Assembly Debates on Universal Suffrage and Famous Parliamentary Debates on Elections. Level 4: The Zonal Finals Six in number and scheduled on just two days, the Zonal Finals witnessed some intense and high-octane quizzing from the 72 State Winners (36 teams) as they gave their all-in and battled for a berth in the Top 6. At the end of three exciting days of contest, teams from Manipur (from the North-East Semi Finals), Puducherry (from the South Zone Semi-Finals), Goa (representing the West Zone), Delhi (from the Special Central Zone), Jharkhand (representing the East Zone) and Jammu & Kashmir (from the North Zone) edged past 60 equally brilliant contenders to scalp a place in the much coveted Finale. Level 5: The National Finals Anchored by World Quizzing Champion (2014) Vikram Joshi, the Grand Finale of NEQ 2018 was easily a battle of nerves, wits and guts. Featuring some spectacular answering by the 6 teams, but marked by a consistent lead by the team from DPS, Ranchi representing Jharkhand, the Finale comprised 4 rounds- two general, an innovative grid round and one on the buzzer, with none of the 12 challengers leaving an ounce of space for error. Doing an encore of their Semi-Finals century record and scoring a stupendous 105 points in the mind-sport contest, team Jharkhand represented by Madhur Jain and Aditya Kumar, eventually went to clinch a thriller trouncing everyone to seal their place as the first National Champions of the National Elections Quiz. Giving a tough-fight but finishing 2nd was R. Mithun Krishna and V.Vishnu Priya from Puducherry with the all-boys team from Manipur comprising Ashmaan Mainali and Shangker Singh Laishram standing 3rd. Teams from Delhi, Goa and Jammu & Kashmir finished 4th, 5th and 6th respectively. Organized on the evening of the 16th at Nirvachan Sadan lawns, the post-event presentation ceremony was graced by Chief Election Commissioner A.K Joti, Election Commissioner O.P Rawat and Election Commissioner Sunil Arora, who felicitated the winners drawing close to nearly three month long exercise . A one-of-a-kind endeavour seeking to engage with and initiate a conversation with the youth of India on the fulcrum of Indian democracy, NEQ 2018- the World's Largest Quiz on Elections, should ideally be viewed as a part of an interlinked communicative project (including the Interactive School Engagement programme and Electoral Literacy Clubs) that strives to achieve the twin goals of habit-formation and behaviour-change specifically with regard to one of its core stakeholders, upon which hinges the destiny of the nation. Catch the premiere of the 7-part series- National Elections Quiz 2018 only on Rajya Sabha TV today at 5:00 pm. To know more about the Election Commission of India's knowledge-venture for the youth, follow us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/EveryVoteCountsIN/) and Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGdsgdPfwnwYF1l8YTFkknA) or, Rajya Sabha TV at https://www.youtube.com/user/rajyasabhatv. An event, supported by Facebook, watch the Grand Finale of NEQ 2018 via Facebook Live on our page India Votes, Facebook India and Governments, Politics and Non-Profits on Facebook in India and South Asia. List of winners from State rounds: North Zone: Chandigarh Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 16, Chandigarh Ankur Goyat Ankush Goyat Haryana Aarohi Model Senior Secondary School, Chhajpur Kalan, Panipat Minakshi Muskan Himachal Pradesh Govt. Sr. Sec. School, Girls Sultanpur, District Kullu Dimple Neha Jammu and Kashmir GHSS Parnalla Billawar, Kathua Atul Khajuria Sonali Sihrotra Punjab Baba Gola Govt. Senior Secondary School, Banga, S.B.S. Nagar, Nawanshahr Neha Kusum Uttarakhand Janta Inter College, Rudrpur, Udham Singh Nagar Baljeet Singh Krishant Kumar East Zone: Assam Delhi Public School, Numaligarh Sarfaraz Nawaz Hussain Vishal Choudhury Bihar Utkramit Uchcha Vidyalaya, Barka Gaon, Buxar Kamta Shiromani Uchcha Vidyalaya, Keshath, Buxar Rahul Kumar Manshi Singh Jharkhand Delhi Public School, Ranchi Madhur Jain Aditya Kumar Odisha Zilla School, Bhadrak Afia Naaz Prabhudatta Behera Sikkim Mangshila Sr. Secondary School, North Dikcha Lawaghan Roma Limboo West Bengal Fatapukur Saradamoni Bidyalaya, Jalpaiguri Riya Sarkar Dipa Jha West Zone: Gujarat Anjuman Sarvajanik High School, Radhanpur, Patan Adityana High School, Porbandar Bhatti Alamkhan A. Khunti Kiran Masribhai Goa People's Higher Secondary School, Panaji Sachin Panicker Ashlesha Naik Dadra and Nagar Haveli Govt Higher Secondary School, Silvassa Nira S. Singh Vaibhav B. Kumar Daman and Diu Shree Machhi Mahajan English Medium School, Nani Daman, Daman Priyansu Kumar Sah Sheikh Aamirnurain Maharashtra Abasaheb Kakade, Shevgao, Ahmednagar B.G.P. Sahyadri Junior College, Sangamner, Ahmednagar Murdare Chaitanya Somnath Patil Avdhoot Bhagwan Rajasthan Adarsh Government Senior Secondary School Balu Singh Devra Amit Kumar Purohit South Zone: Andhra Pradesh Sri Chaitanya School, Ravulapalem, East Godavari District Bhashyam High School, Chandramouli Nagar, Guntur K. Bheemeswara Vijaya Verma K. Navya Karnataka F.M. Dabali PU College, Shirahatti, Gadag Suma S. Bidave Basayya M. Guruwodeyyar Kerala Govt. Vocational Higher Secondary School, Mananthavady, Wayanad Arjunan S.P Akmal E.K Puducherry St. Patric Matric Higher Secondary School, Puducherry V. Vishnu Priya R. Mithun Krishna Tamil Nadu Cheran Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Vennaimalai, Karur B Praveen T Praveen Kumar Telangana ZPSS Yerrupalem Khammam Narayana Best Foundation School, Madhira, Khammam Ch. Gopi Nath P. Swathi North East Zone: Arunachal Pradesh Government Higher Secondary School, Tirap District Ms Jinliam Suyang Somu Barman Manipur Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Senapati Ashmaan Mainali Shangker Singh Laishram Meghalaya JNV Nongpyndeng Nongstoin, West Khasi Hills Shanborlang Donshiew Brington Suting Mizoram Govt. Republic Higher Secondary School, Aizawl Lianthanzuala Ruthi Zonuntluangi Nagaland Ministers' Hill Baptist Higher Secondary School, Kohima Merio Ngullie Kekhriese Yhoshu Tripura Shishu Bihar HS School, Agartala Amisha Chakraborty Binita Paul Special Central Zone: Andaman and Nicobar Pratick Pratik Yadav Chhattisgarh Municipal Higher Secondary School, Mungeli Nageshwar Prasad Sahu Vibhav Singh Rajput Delhi Jain Bharti Mrigavati Vidyalaya, Alipur, North Delhi Vani Saini Shubham Khatri Lakshadweep Govt. Senior Secondary School, Agatti Shanawas Hussain Rahmathbi TKP Madhya Pradesh Government Excellence School Multai, Betul Tanish Sahu Pratham Malviya Uttar Pradesh S.H. Sen Secondary School (Boys), AMU Aligarh Government Inter College, Etah Chandan Gupta Jitendra Giri