The Election Commission has issued letter of intent for purchase of 16.15 lakh Voter-Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines, following a clearance by the Union Cabinet on fund allocations.
The machines will be procured in 2017-18 and 2018-19 at an estimated cost of ₹3,173.47 crore from public sector undertakings BEL and ECIL.
“In its letter sent to CMDs of ECIL and BEL on Friday, the commission has communicated its intent for purchase 8,07,500 VVPATs from each of the PSUs by September 2018,” said an EC note.
Approved design
These VVPATs will be manufactured only as per the design approved by the commission, based on the recommendations of the Technical Experts Committee on EVMs, constituted by the electoral body.
The committee comprises eminent technical professors from Indian Institutes of Technology.
“The commission shall closely monitor the production of VVPATs for timely delivery well before the Lok Sabha general elections in 2019,” said the EC
Explaining the importance of this step, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said, “It will enhance transparency and uphold the voters’ right to know which party he or she has voted, thereby increasing voters’ confidence in the free and fair electoral process.”
Govt.’s nod
On April 19, in compliance with the Supreme Court order and as per the recommendation of the Election Commission, the government had approved ₹3173.47 crore for the procurement of VVPATs for use in the coming elections and the next Lok Sabha polls.
EC reminders
The decision came after almost a dozen reminders from the EC on release of funds, the last communication flagging an urgent need to procure the VVPATS given the “prevailing environment”.
After the recent Assembly elections in the five States, the Opposition parties had raised serious doubts over the integrity of EVMs, even as several of them demanded use of VVPATS to ensure transparency.
They had petitioned the Election Commission and the President seeking intervention.
