CHENNAI: Following Express’ reports on how Election Commission’s C-Vigil App lacked facilities to allow the command centre to directly monitor and assign complaints, Geographic Information System has been included in the app. This EC app is for public to lodge complaints about model code of conduct violations.
With this inclusion, officials of the command centre are able to track flying squads in real time.“We have started assigning complaints directly after the GIS was integrated,” said C-Vigil nodal officer Bhuveneswaran.
It is learnt that a team of senior election observers visited the command centre on Wednesday to check if the command centre personnel are able to directly assign complaints.
“The observers coordinated with EC and ensured that GIS system is integrated immediately,” C-Vigil nodal officer Bhuveneswaran said.
GIS replacement saves time
The command centre had been depending on GPS tracking software used by the monitoring teams to track the nearest flying squad manually. But now, the command centre can save time by assigning complaints directly.
The command centre has also been instructed to monitor the redressal made by the assistant returning officers (AROs) the flying squads report to. “We are coordinating with AROs and ensuring the complainant is informed about the action that has been taken,” said a command centre personnel.
Spam complaints
Command centre personnel claimed they have been receiving a lot of spam. “Some people are sending memes and selfies as complaints,” said the C-Vigil nodal officer, explaining how this will prevent them for attending to actual complaints.
There is no mechanism to prevent or block serial spammers and officials believe parties can misuse this loophole.