Port Blair, Mar 05: In connection with the upcoming General Election-2019, a training programme on MCC, MCMC and Information Technology applications for media persons was organised in the conference hall of Anthropological Survey of India (ASI) Port Blair Regional Centre auditorium here yesterday.
In his inaugural address, the Returning Officer, A&N Parliamentary Constituency, Mr. Udit Prakash Rai said media plays a vibrant role during election and they need to act as watchdog, especially when the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) come into force as soon as the election is declared. He informed the scribes that teams have been constituted for enforcement of MCC. Any act of MCC violation should be reported through the App that has been launched for the purpose or through Helpline 1950 in case of network failure, he said.
The Returning Officer informed that for the first time Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines is introduced by the ECI in election and will be used in all the polling stations during the ensuing Lok Sabah Elections- 2019. The first round of hands on training on EVMs and VVPAT machines for the voters has been completed and the second round of training is underway. Election Express mobile vans are deployed to create awareness among the masses for their maximum participation in the democratic process with the theme ‘No voter is left behind’.
The RO informed about the detailed instructions of Election Commission of India regarding Information Technology Apps to be used for the conduct of the Election. He said people friendly Apps have been put in place by the ECI especially the cVIGIL app by which people can lodge their election related complaints. Citizens can go for alternate method for lodging election related complaints by dialling toll free number 1950 if they come across connectivity issue while using c VIGIL. At present 4 lines are available for 1950 which will be increased to 8 for the benefit of the users, the RO added. Mr. Udit Prakash Rai also informed about the National Grievances Service Portal (NGSP) portal which has so far received 300 suggestions and election related complaints between 60-70 so far. The disposal rate of the complaints is 100 percent, he said.
The Nodal Officer, MCC, Mr. Yash Chaudhary, an IAS Probationer, through a power point presentation elaborated upon various aspects of MCC when it comes into force immediately after the election is declared. Govt. building, govt. employees and govt. money cannot be used for canvassing of candidates, the Nodal Officer said adding that if media persons come across such MCC violations they can immediately bring to the notice of election authorities.
Mr. Nishant Bodh, Deputy Director (Tourism) covered on the topic paid news and ‘Media Certification & Media Monitoring’ (MCMC). He said paid news as defined by Press Council of India (PCI) is “any news or analysis in any media for a price in cash or kind as consideration”. Informing about the role of MCMC committee, the Deputy Director said that the Committee will scrutinize all media within its region of jurisdiction to identify political advertisement in the garb of news. District MCMC shall also actively consider paid news cases referred to it by the Expenditure Observers, he added.
Mr. Gautam Gupta, Technical Director NIC and Mr. I Rubesh, SOVTECH, informed about “cVIGIL” App – a user-friendly and easy to operate Android application which will be operational only when elections are announced. cVIGIL app enables citizens to report MCC/expenditure violations, they added.
Later, a hands on training on EVMs and VVPAT machines was imparted to media persons by Mr. M. Papa Rao and P.K Singh Master Trainers.