The next General Election in 2019 will be conducted with new Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) that will print a paper receipt for each vote cast. Amid the Opposition’s allegations of EVM tampering, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the Election Commission’s proposal to procure 16.15 lakh Voter-Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) units worth Rs 3,173.47 crore for use in all polling booths in the country.
The EC said it will ensure total compliance with the orders of the Supreme Court and its commitment to use VVPATs with every EVM at all polling stations. The Government will provide funds to the EC in two installments, Rs 1,600 crore in the current fiscal year and the rest in the next fiscal.
According to the Cabinet decision, a total of 16,15,000 VVPAT units would be purchased at a tentative unit cost of Rs 19,650 during 2017-18 and 2018-19 from M/s Bharat Electronics ltd, Bengaluru and M/s Electronics Corporation of India ltd, Hyderabad.
The VVPAT is a machine which dispenses a slip with the symbol of the party for which a person has voted.
This paper slip contains the name, serial number and symbol of the chosen candidate. The voters see the slip for seven seconds, which would be an acknowledgement receipt for the party they voted for in the election. Then the slip drops into a box and the voter cannot take it home.
The Cabinet nod comes at a time when Opposition parties are asking the EC to go back to the use of paper ballots and discontinue the use of EVMs, alleging that the devices can be tampered with. After the recent Assembly polls in five States, 16 political parties recently petitioned the EC to revert to paper ballot system for greater transparency.
Both the Government and the EC have denied the charge and said the EVMs were completely safe and the commission has even thrown an ‘open challenge’ to hack EVMs.
The EC had requested the Government for immediate release of funds to procure VVPAT machines after Opposition parties raised their pitch for abandoning EVMs for paper ballots.
The Cabinet has also directed the Price Negotiation Committee to negotiate with M/s Bharat Electronics ltd and M/s Electronics Corporation of India ltd to rationalise the final unit price expeditiously. The Cabinet has also allocated additional funds to the tune of Rs 1,600 crore in the current financial year for meeting the cash outgo envisaged for purchase of EVMs (Control Units & Ballot Units) and VVPAT Units during the year 2017-18 and payment of 40 per cent of the said amount as advance to the manufacturers and for provision of balance amount as may be required in the Budget estimate 2018-19.
“The introduction of the VVPAT was facilitated by amending the Conduct of Election Rules in August, 2013. Thereafter, 20,300 VVPAT units were purchased by the EC in 2013. Since then, these units are being deployed in elections in select Assembly and parliamentary constituencies. Subsequently, order for 67,000 additional units was placed in 2015, out of which 33,500 have been supplied,” said officials of the EC.
Earlier in a terse letter to the law Ministry, Chief Election Commissioner Dr Nasim Zaidi made an oblique reference to the skepticism over the use of EVMs by Opposition parties. “It is felt that the process of procurement of VVPATs cannot be delayed any longer given the prevailing environment,” the commission said in its letter on March 22.
In 2013, the SC had directed that the EC must introduce the new machines called VVPATs in phases. Since June, 2014, the commission has given at least 11 reminders to the Government seeking funds for VVPAT machines. last week, the SC asked the EC and the Centre to explain the delay in switching to VVPATs.
In a statement, the EC said it will “closely monitor the production of VVPATs for timely delivery well before the 2019 lok Sabha polls. The commission will ensure total compliance with the orders of the SC (on use of VVPATs) and its commitment to use VVPATs with every EVM at all polling stations in the country in General Elections 2019.”