Nearly 30 percent of cases registered in Bangalore on the cVIGIL app are fake shows data.
More than 30 percent of cases registered in Bangalore on the cVIGIL application (app) are fake according to the data on cVIGIL app. Out of 4993 registered Model Code of Conduct (MCC) violation cases in Karnataka, 779 were fake. Bengaluru registered 54 cases till April 2023, out of which 39 cases were false registrations.
The cVIGIL application was launched in 2018 by the Election Commission of India (EIC) to help citizens register any violation of the Model Code of Conduct.
Kotesh, project manager of the public grievance cell, Election Commission, Bengaluru said, it was challenging to verify the fake cases; however, teams in each district address the issue as it is reported. “The team investigates the cases reported on the basis of evidence and witnesses and then the FIR is filed against the person if necessary,” he said.
Government should penalize the people who deliberately share wrong information, says the expert.
The majority of complaints registered were related to illegal banners and posters in the city followed by money distribution, property defacement, and posters without mandatory declarations. Around 2787 cases were registered relating to posters and banners and 253 relating to property defacement, shows the press release.
cVIGIL
The EIC’s website says, within 100 minutes of citizens lodging a complaint, the status of their complaint is shared with them. The flying squad and the returning officer verify and make decisions when the complaints are registered.
Jadiyappa, media coordinator, Election Commission, Bengaluru, said, “The police and the departments concerned like IT, Excise, and cyber cells look into the complaints, verify, and respond within a few minutes to the complainants.”
Sukesh a user of the app from Bengaluru said, “The process seemed way too simple, to record the misconduct but the camera stopped working while using the app and the same error continued.”
Akhil, a resident of Nagasandra who installed the application for monitoring purpose said, “I cannot log in to the application because the phone number entered shows to be invalid or says the user does not exist.”
“These are the common basic problems occurring during the election season as a result of the increasing number of users on the application,” said Kotesh acknowledging the issue. He also said that he would convey the same to the IT cell and try to resolve this as soon as possible.
Ashish, a software developer from the Games 24X7 said, the application should have the capacity to handle more users and the government should focus on the maintenance and monitoring of such applications. “The application should be designed in such a way that it can support all types of smartphones as there could be problems because of the operating systems (OS),” he said.
Dr. SY Surendra Kumar, a political science professor from Bangalore University said that people can upload images and videos easily on the application and it is very feasible to use. “Government should put some penalty or punish people who deliberately register wrong information and mislead the election commission,” Surendra added. There are instances where people register cases just to check if the application works, he said.
