Commission asks two PSUs to ensure that the machines are supplied in time for the 2019 LS polls
Stepping up its efforts to end controversies surrounding electronic voting machines (EVMs), the Election Commission (EC) has issued a letter of intent to procure 16,15,000 Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines for an estimated cost of Rs 3,173 crore.
The EC is aiming to hold the 2019 Lok Sabha elections with the help VVPAT machines attached to EVMs. To achieve this task, public sector units ECIL and BEL have been sent letters of intent to supply 8,07,500 VVPATs each by September 2018.
Though it is a tall order even for these public sector giants to supply over 16 lakh machines, the EC hopes that they will be able to deliver all the VVPAT machines in time, giving the EC the necessary time to attach them with the EVMs and carry out mock tests before the next Lok Sabha elections, which are expected to be held in April-May 2019.
“The Commission shall closely monitor the production of VVPAT machines for timely delivery well before the general elections of 2019,” the EC said.
The EC sent the request letters to the chief managing directors of the two public sector units (PSUs) immediately after the Union Cabinet gave long-pending clearance for the purchase of the VVPAT machines last week.
In a landmark judgment in 2013, the Supreme Court had ordered the EC to implement the VVPAT system, with the latter making a commitment to have them in place in time for the general elections in 2019.
But the decision had been in limbo since June 2014, when the EC had made its first submission for the purchase of the machines to the Ministry of Law and Justice. Thereafter, the poll watchdog sent over 10 reminders to the central government, with the last one sent by Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi directly to Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself, on October 25 last year.
Explaining the importance of this step, Zaidi said, “This will enhance transparency and uphold the voters’ right to know which party he or she has voted for, thereby increasing voters’ confidence in a free and fair electoral process.”
The EC also said that both the PSUs will manufacture these VVPAT machines only as per the design approved by the Commission, based on the recommendations of a technical experts committee on EVMs constituted by the Commission and comprising eminent IIT professors.
IT’S BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY
- A VVPAT machine produces a printout of the vote cast using an EVM, which is seen by the voter through a glass case before it gets deposited in a safe box. This paper trail can later be used to resolve any kind of disputes related to elections.
- The EC has asked ECIL and BEL to supply the VVPAT machines.
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