The State Government has planned to build warehouse in every district to store electronic voting machines (EVM) which are presently kept in adhoc buildings like colleges and market complexes.
Official informed that at present construction of warehouses is underway in 13 districts adding the work would be completed by October 2019. The ongoing projects would cost `53.89 crores.
Notably, warehouse construction has been taken up on instruction of Election Commission of India (ECI). “Following the ECI directive, the chief electoral officer (CEO) of Jharkhand has asked us to initiate steps for storage and safety of EVMs,” said a senior officer in the building construction department.
He stated that warehouse construction work has begun in 13 important districts of state. He informed the construction in this regard was already taken up in four divisional headquarters earlier.
According to the plan warehouse of Hazaribagh, Chaibasa and Jamshedpur are to be completed by December 2019, while that of Dumka, Deoghar, Dhanbad, Sahebganj, Simdega, Giridih, Garwah, Daltonganj, Bokaro and Chatra by December 2019.
With it, Jharkhand would have capacity to store thousands of EVMs safely. The project report of EVM warehouse of Chaibasa states that building would have two floors with total capacity to store 3570 ballot units, 1680 control units and 1464 VVPATs. The building has provision for officer’s chamber, computer room, multipurpose hall, security room, loading and unloading platform and fire staircase.
“The warehouses would provide a permanent place for storing the EVMs. They would have safety provision and other facilities as per the ECI guidelines,” said Lalbiakluanga Khiangte the chief electoral officer of the State. He added that EVM’s would be received and transferred from the warehouse as per ECI directives.
It may be stated here that storage and transportation of EVMs/VVPATs remain under the strict control of ECI all times. According to guidelines, order for opening of the EVM warehouse is issued by the commission for annual verification. EVM storage warehouse must not have more than one entry point. If there are any other doors or windows in the warehouse, they should be sealed using brick-masonry or concrete. Entry of EVM storage warehouse must be secured by a double lock system.
Warehouses must be free from dampness, pests and rodents. Proper fire-fighting arrangement must be made available in warehouse and it should be also free from floodwater logging, cracks, leakage and broken window.