A record number of 2,520 complaints have been lodged through c-Vigil so far against model code violations resorted to by candidates or parties during campaigning in the 31 districts of the State.
Out of them, 1,483 complaints are found to be genuine under verification made by the flying/static squads, while 460 other complaints are dropped by the Returning Officers.
A total of 492 complaints are dropped by the District Command Control (DCC), whereas investigation and decision are pending over 73 complaints. At DCC level, 12 complaints are pending.
Peddapalli district accounted for the largest number of 173 genuine complaints, followed by Medchal-Malkajgiri (166) and Jagtial (162). Warangal (Rural) district reported the least number of genuine complaints—that is only one.
The Election Commission has noticed that a complaint against unlawful campaign or model code violation lodged by a citizen, using c-Vigil, is hardly taking about 100 minutes up to the time the action is taken by the Returning Officer of the constituency concerned.
The using of this Android-based mobile app is picking up momentum slowly but steadily and has become popular among the citizens having smart phones in Telangana.
An observation made by the election officials indicated that a vigilant citizen is normally taking only 10 minutes to snap a picture/ video about the model code violation at a location and upload it on the c-Vigil for onward transmission to the District Control Room. The District Control Room assigns the complaint to a Flying Squad or Static Squad in 5 minutes.
The complainant is given a unique ID to track his complaint and receive information about the follow-up action.
As the phone is equipped with Geographic Information System, the location is easily found. A flying squad team or static squad team will arrive in 15 minutes at the location on being tipped by the district control room. Whereupon, the team will take another 30 minutes to execute the action of verifying the complaint and submit a report. The Returning Officer, in turn, is taking another 50 minutes on an average and inform the citizen about the status of action taken through c-Vigil.
c-Vigil is the latest software tool introduced by the Election Commission to purify India’s election campaigning which is now ridden with malpractices and violations.
The Chief Electoral Officer, Dr Rajat Kumar, said the app was a boon to the country as a whole, as it was sure to purge the entire election system in the near future, making it free from violations and wrong-doings.
