Garbage and drain selfies flood Bihar poll panel app, officials clueless
PATNA: The Bihar State Election Commission (SEC) officials have been at their wit’s end ever since poll panel’s dedicated app for checking violation of the Model Code of Conduct, cVigil, has become operational.
The app has been used to flood the SEC with thousands of pictures and selfies of drains and garbage, instead.
The SEC had said at its launch that it would help people post proofs of violations of the poll code which, in turn, would allow officials to take stringent action against those responsible.
The state’s chief electoral officer H R Shrinivas had urged the people to use this app to share electoral malpractices with the SEC.
What’s being shared, however, is just garbage.
“We are flooded with pictures of heaps of dirt, overflowing drains and public loos,” said a harried official.
Another official said no one knows how to stop such messages as the app does not record the number or name of individuals who are posting the pictures or information.
“The measure was taken to preserve the secrecy of the informants,” he said.
According to additional chief electoral officer Sanjay Kumar, the app’s technical configuration does not allow recording of identities of senders.
A number of messages received through the app just said, ‘hi’, or ‘how are you dear’. The maximum number of frivolous messages came from interior areas in districts like Jamui, Purnia etc.
However, the officials admitted that the SEC had received 45 genuine complaints, too. Of these, the action was taken in 26 cases.
Sources said the commission has decided to consult some technical experts on how to detect ‘spams’ or junk messages.