Andhra Pradesh police to use SAMARTH mobile app for quick policing on election day
The Hindu
If any untoward incident occurs at any polling centre during the election, the officer in charge of the polling station will press the SOS button on the app, and the information will immediately reach the control room
Stating that the SAMARTH (Security Arrangement Mapping Analysis Response Tracking Hub) mobile app is very useful for taking immediate measures and handling law and order issues in the general elections to be held on May 13 in the State, Chief Electoral Officer Mukesh Kumar Meena directed all SPs, CPs and sector officers to use the app.
He told the Officers that the mobile app is a smart and quick policing tool that clearly demarcates and maps Critical and common polling stations. It allows mobile parties, striking, and special striking teams to be dispatched immediately, and police forces’ locations can be tracked through Google Maps from the control room. He congratulated and appreciated Bapatla Superintendent of Police Vakul Jindal for developing SAMARTH.
The app has been designed so that if any untoward incident occurs at the polling centres or other places on polling day, the police officers near places will immediately reach there and maintain law and order.
The SAMARTH app, developed by the District IT Core Department, was launched by the District SP on April 22. Mr. Jindal explained about the features of the app to Mr. Meena on April 26.
Before that, Mr. Jindal also informed the Police Observer about the app’s functioning, who said that this app could be used across the country and that he would recommend it to the Election Commission of India.
Mr. Jindal told The Hindu that the SAMARTH was created for smart and quick policing during the general elections. SAMARTH is a powerful, robust and real-time application for district police officers to track personnel locations, identify problematic and common polling stations, call the control room directly from the app, and immediately reach police forces in troubled areas.
The department enters all the police force mobile numbers in the app, and the staff install the app on their mobiles. Thus, the police officials track the personnel’s real-time location. The details of the polling stations in the district are clearly included so that critical and normal polling stations can be easily identified. By entering the polling station number, the police forces can reach through navigation. The higher officials from the headquarters can call and interact with the police forces at the polling station through the app.
The Election Commission has seized a whopping ₹557.69 crore from March 16, when the model code of conduct (MCC) for the Lok Sabha election came into force, till the end of the final phase of polling on May 7 in the State. This is the highest-ever pre-poll seizure that has been done in Karnataka. During the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, ₹88.27 crore was seized, according to data from the Election Commission. This is apart from the seizure of goods worth ₹348.71 crore by the Commercial Taxes Department. These goods include iron ore and ghutka, the proceeds of which would have been used for inducements. Besides, from August last year to March 16, poll personnel seized cash and goods worth ₹537 crore in Karnataka. The seizures include ₹151 crore in cash, liquor worth ₹42 crore, drugs worth ₹126 crore, gold worth ₹71 crore, and other items valued at ₹144 crore.