What is cVIGIL?

What is cVIGIL?

cVIGIL is an Online app for citizens to report on the Model Code of Conduct violations during the Election Period. It denotes Vigilant Citizen and the proactive and responsible role they can play in the conduct of free and fair elections.

The app requires an Android Smartphone equipped with a Camera, good internet connection & GPS access. The operating System should be Android Jellybean & above. It supports all the latest android smartphones.

By using this app, citizens can immediately report on incidents of MCC violation within minutes of having witnessed them and without rushing to the office of returning officer. All that they need to do is to click a picture or a video of the activity and describe it before uploading it on the mobile application.

Once the violation is reported, the same is forwarded to the respective Field Unit for investigation. A unique number i.e, cVIGIL ID is generated and citizen can track the status of their complaint using their cVIGIL ID from “Status” section in the app.

The application connects the complaint with District Control Room, Returning Officer and Field Verification Unit (Flying Squads) /Static Surveillance Teams, thereby, creating a rapid and accurate reporting, action and monitoring system.

Current Issues:

·        Citizens lack channels to promptly report a live incident. The delayed reporting by citizens on Model Code of Conduct (MCC) violations on this account has led culprits to escape before the arrival of the action squads on the spot. 

·        Lack of any evidence in the form of pictures or videos creates hurdles in the verification of a complaint.  Past experience has shown a major percentage of reporting was false or inaccurate, which led to wastage of precious time of Field Verification Units. 

·        The absence of a robust response system to quickly and accurately identify the crime spot with the help of geographical location details has hampered election officers’ ability to apprehend the code of conduct violators.

·        Benefits of the Application

·        cVIGIL is a convenient and user-friendly app allowing citizens to send pictorial evidence of the moral code of conduct violations in their vicinity. 

·        Each reported incident is tracked and scrutinised from the beginning to the end point, thus bringing accountability into the system.

·        The immediate location verification feature of the cVIGIL will act as a strong deterrence for miscreants and wrong-doers as they can be easily tracked. 

·        A combination of all these factors will encourage citizens to keep vigil over unhealthy electoral practices and bring them to the notice of the Election Commission. This, in turn, will help the commission reach its objective of conducting free and fair elections.