After a long wait, actor-politician Kamal Haasan’s whistleblower app Maiam Whistle was launched on Monday from his party office in Chennai. The launch was followed by a presentation on the workings of this community-driven app.
In November, Kamal Haasan had announced that he will be launching an app named Maiyam in January.
In an advertisement released a few days ago, the Makkal Needhi Maiam chief talks about pollution, corruption and failed promises. He goes on to add that the main problem lies in people staying less vigilant and unresponsive to such problems. He also urges them to use the Maiam app to register their woes supported with video or photographic evidence – which will be brought to the notice of those in authority.
The app has two modes a registered user can choose from - Citizen and Champion, and these modes can be switched. A press release from Makkal Nedehi Maiam explains the working of the app.
“A concerned citizen reports an issue with video or photographic evidence. Champion (volunteer) visits the location of the issue and either approves or dismisses the issue. Three champions are given the task of verifying an issue. The admin of the app approves the report based on the details that the Champions give. Once the admin approves the issue, all the users will be able to view the issue. To avoid misuse of the app, Maiam Whistle has multiple verification processes in place, those who misuse the tool will be subjected to losing membership and will face being reported to the concerned authorities.”
For someone to use the app however, they’ll have to first register themselves in the party. Among other details, registration screen also requests for DOB, area of interest (education, environment, etc), ward number and voter ID. Kamal also requests people to be cautious about pranksters who might try to belittle the efforts.
In February this year, Kamal announced his plans to adopt a village in every district of the state. A few weeks ago, he also conducted a mock gram panchayat at his party office to create awareness on the proceedings of a Gram Panchayat.
During the launch of the app, Kamal also announced that he will be participating in a mock gram panchayat at Adigathur, a village 60 kms away from Chennai on Tuesday.