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On poll day, Sam Pitroda casts doubt on EVM

Opposition parties had recently demanded counting of at least 50 per cent of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips during the Lok Sabha elections, claiming that EVM's reliability was doubtful.

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Sam Pitroda
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Doyen of the national telecom revolution, Sam Pitroda, has said that he is not satisfied with electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the country. He said the devices needed to be carefully studied to find out the flaws.

"As an engineer, as a technical expert, I am not satisfied. I cannot pinpoint the casue because I don't have one. If we get it for one year, we can study. One needs to understand the design, software and other things. But we can definitely say that something is wrong. What it is, that we don't know [Kuch toh gadbad hai, kya hai hamein nahin pata]," said Pitroda while replying to a question during a Congress party's media briefing here.

Opposition parties had recently demanded counting of at least 50 per cent of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips during the Lok Sabha elections, claiming that EVM's reliability was doubtful. The Supreme Court granted five per cent, in place of the current one per cent.

On the feasibility of the NYAY scheme announced by the Congress in its manifesto, he said it was framed after consulting experts from across the world, and makes economic sense.

"Time has come for our country to think about 50 million poorest families. It is our moral responsibility to uplift them," he said, adding that for a three trillion-dollar economy, funding the scheme should not be a difficulty as the country's economy was growing at 8 per cent annually.

"The money will go into economy, will create jobs in rural areas," he said.

He further said that Congress's scheme, which promises a guaranteed income of Rs 72,000 a year for poor and marginal farmers, will help the economy just as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme did.

On Prime Minister Narendra Modi's barb that the Congress was "speaking the language of Pakistan" over surgical strikes carried out by Indian forces on Pakistan, Pitroda said, "Whatever you say, the Prime Minister and Amit Shah tag you as anti-national. (That) the Congress party at the right time cut Pakistan into two pieces (in 1971) should tell you enough," he added.

—With inputs from PTI

‘Need To Study It’

I am not satisfied with EVM. I have not been able to pinpoint it because I do not have an EVM. If someone gives me an EVM to study for a year, then I can say something.
—Sam Pitroda

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