New Delhi: Since the announcement of General Elections 2024, over 79,000 complaints of election code violation have been received on the cVIGIL app of the Election Commission of India (ECI) as of today. The ECI said over 99% of complaints have been resolved and close to 89% of these complaints have been resolved within 100 minutes.
Offering details, the ECI said more than 58,500 complaints (73% of the total) received were against illegal hoardings and banners. More than 1400 complaints received pertained to money, gifts and liquor distribution. Close to 3% of the complaints (2454) pertained to defacement of property.
Out of the 535 complaints received for display of firearms and intimidation, ECI claimed 529 were already resolved. 1000 complaints reported were for campaigning beyond the prohibited period including the use of speakers beyond the permitted time.
cVIGIL app marks a significant leap forward in electoral oversight and reducing campaign clutter, the ECI said. It may be recalled that in the press conference for the announcement of the General Elections 2024, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar had urged citizens to be vigilant and use the app to report model code of conduct violations and distribution of any kind of inducements to voters.
It may be mentioned that cVigil is an easy-to-operate application, which connects vigilant citizens with the District Control Room, Returning Officer and Flying Squads Teams. By using this app, citizens can immediately report incidents of political misconduct within minutes and without having to rush to the office of the returning officer. As soon as the complaint is sent on the cVigil app, the complainant receives a unique ID through which the person can track the complaint on their mobile.
cVIGIL users can capture audio, photos or videos in real-time, and a “100-minute” countdown for time-bound response to complaints is ensured. The app automatically enables a geo-tagging feature as soon as the user switches on their camera in the cVIGIL to report a violation. This means that flying squads could know the precise location of a reported violation, and the image captured by citizens could be used as evidence in a court of law. Citizens can also report complaints anonymously.
The app is one of the armoury of Apps which the Commission uses to leverage technology and facilitate voters and political parties.
– global bihari bureau
