Karnataka   

GPS to be used to monitor polls

Bangalore: For effective implementation of the model code of conduct, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer has gone hi-tech. For the first time in the country, Karnataka’s Chief Electoral Officer is using Geographical Positioning System (GPS)-enabled mobile handsets to track violations of the model code of conduct in different parts of the State.

Chief Electoral Officer M.N. Vidyashankar told presspersons here on Monday that the Election Commission had distributed 30 GPS-enabled handsets to 30 sector officers stationed at hypersensitive booths in various parliamentary constituencies in the State.

Each officer would be given charge of 10 to 15 polling booths in each constituency. The GPS-enabled handsets will help monitor at least 400 of the most sensitive polling stations.

The cost of each handset is Rs. 30,000, Mr. Vidyashankar said.

“We are conducting this experiment on a pilot basis and, based on its success, it will be extended across the country,” he said.

The GPS system will track the location of each officer to ensure that they are present at the location where they have been deployed. This being a pilot project, it has been decided to select some sensitive and hypersensitive polling zones for testing the technology.

With the help of handsets, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer or the Election Commission can communicate with its officers and direct them to go to places where violation of the model code of conduct or electoral malpractices have been reported.

The technology will enable the Election Commission to fulfil its promise of ensuring zero tolerance for violation of the code of conduct, he said.

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