Collectors, SPs will be responsible for failure to act on plaints, says SEC

VIJAYAWADA: Of course, as the app developed within a short time, it will be stabilised over a period of time. Initial hiccups may arise in the first and second phase of elections, but it will be perfect by the third phase, he said. Asserting that any complaint related to election filed through the app will be resolved, he said the complainants will be informed about the response to their complaint and seek their feedback. Serious complaints like booth capturing should de-escalated within quick time and the District Collectors and SPs will be held responsible if they fail to act on such complaints as it may lead to cancellation of the election, Ramesh Kumar said. 

Stating that the panchayat elections will be held in a healthy atmosphere in the State, he appealed to the people residing in other places to come to their native villages and cast their votes. Expressing satisfaction over the arrangements for elections in various districts, he asserted that there will be a sharp decline in the number of unanimous polls this time. “There is a decline in the number of unanimous elections in 2013, compared to the polls in 2006. I am confident that the number will decline further in the current elections compared to the polls in 2013,’’ he affirmed.

SEC Secretary K Kanna Babu explained that the complaints lodged through the mobile application or through the system using eWatch will be segregated in the call centre set up at the SEC office. Based on the gravity of the complaints, they will be sent to the dashboard of the Collector of the concerned district or the SEC. Later, the action taken on the complaint will reach the call centre and the staff will send the action taken report to the complainants and seek their feedback.

The app can be downloaded from Google Play Store from Thursday. To ensure quality disposal,  a reopen option is provided if the complainants are not satisfied with the action taken on their complaints. Anyone from anywhere can upload the complaint at any time along with photographs or videos. Data will be stored in State Data Centre. The call centre was established at a cost of Rs 5 lakh. No money was spent on developing the app as it was done with inhouse resources, he added. Panchayat Raj Principal Secretary Gopal Krishna Dwivedi and Additional DG N Sanjay were also present.