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To better enforce the election code of conduct and curtail incidents during the upcoming Delhi elections, the city’s south-west district election office has asked citizens to report violations to the authorities through Facebook and Whatsapp. This could set a precedent for citizens becoming the ‘eyes and ears’ of enforcement agencies and could be emulated by other administrative bodies as well.
A Facebook page has been made and a dedicated WhatsApp number has been registered where any citizen can post a photo or a video of any violation. The person reporting the incident will have the option to withhold his/her details. “A dedicated cell has been set up at the district level to look into all such reported violations on priority and take action within 24 hours of the report,” said a statement.
The old procedure of taking photo printouts and then writing letters in reporting violations is tedious, which prevents people from reporting such incidents. The new process, allows people to click photos and send instantaneously. “All the complaints will be personally looked into by the nodal officer for Model Code of Conduct,” added the statement.
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The most prominent cases of violation of model code of conduct in which citizens can upload / post photos and videos include defacement of public property or private property in public view, unauthorised use of loud-speakers, rallies and meetings without permissions, use of unauthorised vehicles, defamatory speeches or printed material and using religion or caste to promote political interests by candidates.
However, it is possible that the source of a bulk of such complaints becomes the rival parties. The chances of authorities receiving false alerts are also high.
Ankur Garg, district magistrate and district election officer (south-west) said: “As the 2015 elections are likely to be keenly contested ones, we are expecting an intensive and aggressive campaign by most parties and, hence, it is necessary to check that the code of conduct guidelines issued by the ECI (Election Commission of India) are followed right from the beginning and violations are nipped in the bud.”
He added that while sufficient flying and static squads on the ground have been deployed, this newly-launched facility will help each citizen become “our eyes and ears, thereby increasing our efficacy several folds”.
The statement claimed that till date, about 34,000 posters, 2,900 banners, 4,100 hoardings, and 42 wall writings have been removed from public property.
Similarly, 2,800 posters, 192 banners, 166 hoardings, and 133 writings on the walls have been removed from private property as well. Twenty-four flying-squad teams and a similar number of static squads have been deployed for round-the-clock duty.
Besides, a 24x7 media cell has also been put in place to keep a watch on reports of all newspapers and news channels for any cases of model code of conduct violations.
