Bhubaneswar: In order to put a check on the poll irregularities and other malfunctions ahead and during the 2019 polls, a 24X7 control room was opened at the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) in Bhubaneswar on Friday.
The control room would monitor activities like poll irregularities, model code of conduct (MCC) violation, and other violations such as distribution of illegal inducements, black money and hate speech. The CEO office has issued a number 0674-2395015 for this purpose.
Based on these complaints, the control room will direct the concerned authorities which will then spring into action to check the violation, said sources.
Recently, the IT department had also set up a 24X7 functional control room at Ayakar Bhawan in Bhubaneswar and issued a toll free number – 1800 345 7160 through which people can lodge poll-related income tax complaints and information related to unaccounted cash flow during or before the elections.
Apart from this, all the District Collectors were asked to extensively publicise the newly implemented facility in the IT department.
The Election Commission has also launched an Android-based app, using which a person can secretly send to it geo-tagged videos and photos of illegal money being distributed or a hate speech being made during polls.
The unique Internet-based beta version of the application is called 'cVIGIL', which stands for "citizens' vigil".
It will be operationalised for the first time when assembly polls in states such as Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh are held later this year. It will be made available on Google Play Store.
The app will work only during the time the model code of conduct is in place in a poll-bound state.