Election watchdog’s third eye will keep a close watch on the poll activities across Punjab. As many as 117 vehicles, fitted with cameras, will zip across the length and breadth of the State to help the Election Commission monitor and supervise the elections.
Implemented only in Punjab till now, as many as 117 mobile cars, one for each of the 117 assembly constituencies of the State, fitted with high quality cameras would take the state’s poll panel close to the ground realities from anywhere in the state while sitting in its main office at Chandigarh.
“These mobile cars, which will be on the move for the entire day, will send live feed from the cameras fitted in them directly to the commanding room set up at the office of Chief Electoral Officer at Chandigarh to monitor activities in different areas,” a senior official of the CEO office told The Pioneer.
The official maintained that the Election Commission is making attempts to ensure free and fair polls while making the best use of the advancing technology. “As per the Election Commission of India’s instructions, the flying squads have been formed and supervising elections across the state. But it is only in Punjab that their vehicles are fitted with the cameras, and their live feed will constantly be monitored by a team at Commanding Room,” added the official.
“Sometimes what happen that a person present on the spot may miss something which is a violation of code, and the person monitoring the video feed at the commanding room notice the same. So, it will complement the working of the flying squads,” said the official adding that a special team has been given the task of the commanding room.
“The officers sitting here can see directly what is going on in the constituency. In case any violation of model code of conduct comes to the notice, immediate instructions will be issued from the Chandigarh office to act,” said the official.
The official maintained that the video quality is good, and it would help the poll panel in monitoring and supervising from the head office. “Right now, it is being monitored the entire day for which we have a special team, and in the last two days, it will work 24X7,” added the official.
With the camera-fitted vehicles, the Commission would not only keep a tab on the code violation, but it would also keep the flying squads under check. “The flying squads are also under close watch and are directly connected with the CEO office through CCTV cameras on their vehicles. They also share video proof at the time of spot visits,” said the official.
The Commission has also linked the flying squads with its cVIGIL mobile application aimed at quick redressal of complaints. “All the flying squads are interconnected with the application and the control room, and on receipt of any complaint, the nearest squad will immediately reach the spot to see if the complaint was right and inform the control room at the time of its disposal or otherwise,” said the official.
Introducing several hi-tech system to verify complaints, the ECI has launched cVIGIL mobile application through which people can upload only live pictures and videos showing the violations. For the purpose, a district complaint centres have been set up where complaints would be received through the application, and after verifying the genuineness of the same, it is forwarded to the flying squads deployed in the field.
“The flying squads have to act within 35-40 minutes and report to the CEO office. Each complaint has to be disposed of within 100 minutes,” said the official.
