MANU/PIBU/1009/2018

Department/Board : Press Information Bureau

Date : 03.07.2018

Election Commission of India launches Mobile App "cVIGIL" to enable citizens to report on violation of election code of conduct

The Chief Election Commissioner Shri. O.P. Rawat, along with the Election Commissioners Shri Sunil Arora and Shri Ashok Lavasa launched a mobile app, called 'Cvigil,' on July 3, 2018, for citizens to report any violation of the model code of conduct during elections.

Chief Election Commissioner Sh. O.P. Rawat along with Election Commissioners Shri Sunil Arora and Shri Ashok Lavasa launched the cVIGIL App. Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Shri Umesh Sinha and Deputy Election Commissioner Shri Sandeep Saxena were also present.

"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.

The app requires an Android smartphone equipped with a camera, good internet connection and GPS access. The operating system should be Android Jellybean and above. The application supports all the latest Android smartphones.

"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 vigilant citizen has to click a picture or record a video of upto two minutes' duration of the scene of violations of the model code. The photo or video is to be uploaded on the app. The automated location mapping will be done by the app using the Geographic Information System. After its successful submission through the app, the vigilant citizen gets a Unique ID to track and receive the follow up updates on her or his mobile. A citizen can report many incidents in this manner and will get a unique id for each report for follow up updates. The identity of the complainant will be kept confidential.