On January 17, 2020 Award of Excellence for the year 2019 was given by Computer Society of India (CSI) and Special Interest Group on e-Governance (CSI SIG e-Gov) at Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology in Bhubaneswar, Odisha during the CSI 2020, 53rd annual convention of CSI. The two innovative Information and Communication Technology (ICT) applications developed by Election Commission of India (ECI), ‘cVIGIL’ and ‘Voter Helpline App’ has won the ‘Award of Excellence’ 2019. The award was received by Dr. Kushal Pathak, Director ICT & chief information security officer (CISO), ECI and Chief Electoral Officer of Odisha, Shri Sushil Kumar Lohani on behalf of ECI.
cVIGIL Mobile App:
i.By using this app citizens can report Violations during elections such as bribery, free gift, liquor distribution, playing loudspeakers beyond the permitted time. ‘cVIGIL’ stands for Vigilant Citizen.
ii.Every cVIGIL case is acted upon and replied back with the action taken in the 100-minute timeline after the evidentiary proof of the violation.
iii.From October 2018 to December 2019, the total number of 1,71,745 cases have been filled through cVIGIL and from which 1,27,567 (74%) of the cases have been found correct.
Voter Helpline App:
i.The Voter Helpline app provides an option for voters to search their name in 90-plus crore electors database, fill forms for new voter registration, migration and corrections.
ii.It also helps to download the digital photo voter slips, and displays the complete information about the contesting candidates.
iii.It also allows voters to view the real-time results.
About Election Commission of India:
Formed- January 25, 1950
Headquarters- New Delhi
Chief Election Commissioner- Shri Sunil Arora
Election Commissioners- Shri Ashok Lavasa, Shri Sushil Chandra
About Odisha:
Chief Minister- Naveen Patnaik
Governor- Ganeshi Lal
Capital City- Bhubaneswar
State Tree- Sacred fig
State Flower- Ashoka
State Bird- Indian roller
State Animal- Sambar deer
