New Delhi | The Election Commissioner of India on Tuesday launched a mobile app, called ‘Cvigil’ for citizens to report any violation of the model code of conduct during elections.
Chief Election Commissioner O.P. Rawat along with Election Commissioners Sunil Arora and Ashok Lavasa launched the cVIGIL App. Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Umesh Sinha and Deputy Election Commissioner Sandeep Saxena were also present.
As per a statement released by the Election Commision, ” ‘cVIGIL’ is a user-friendly and easy to operate Android application. It will be operational only where elections are announced. However, the beta version of the app will be made available for the public and election staff to download so that they can acquaint themselves with its features and also try sending dummy data. Upon successful completion of the trial that is underway, the application will be made available for general use by all, right from the forthcoming Assembly elections in the States of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, and Rajasthan. The practical use of the app during the four-state Assembly polls will also serve as a pilot initiative before it is put to extensive use during the next Lok Sabha General Elections.”
“‘cVIGIL’ will allow anyone in the election-bound state to report violations of Model Code of Conduct (MCC) that comes into effect from the date of announcement of elections and goes on till a day after the polls. By using this app, citizens can immediately report on incidents of misconduct within minutes of having witnessed them and without having to rush to the office of the returning officer to lodge a complaint,” the statement added.
The Election Commision further added that “The user will get 5 minutes to report an incident after having clicked a picture or a video. To prevent any misuse, the app will not allow uploading of the pre-recorded or old images and videos. The app will not facilitate the saving of the photos or videos recorded using the ‘cVIGIL’ app into the phone gallery either. Further, the application will be active only in States where elections have been announced.”
However, the Election commision clearly stated that the moment a citizen exits an election-bound State, the app will become inactive.
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