Voters may feel empowered with more transparency in the voting process due to the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) introduced for the first time in Assembly elections in Jharkhand but the technological aspect of the electoral reforms agitated police officials who had to carry the additional 12 kg load besides the usual weight before going to election duty.
The VVPAT set contains an electronic-voting-machine (EVM), a printer to generate voting slip and a box attached to the printer for storing the voter slip generated. Notably, 1190 VVPAT machines will be used in Ranchi, Kanke and Hatia under Ranchi district.
“This (VVPAT printer) is a big headache for us. They have not provided staff to load and unload these boxes and the policemen have to carry them. Even the staffs that they have deputed are dumping the boxes just outside the gate for us to take them to the vehicle,” said ASI, AK Singh.
The aluminum container marked VVPAT weighs around 12-kg and is equal in number to the number of EVMs being carried with a patrol party to a polling booth where the innovative measure of tracking votes will be used. The pain of carrying excess weight however puts a question mark on the fitness of the police constables sweating profusely when strained physically during the election duty at Morhabadi. The physical strain appeared too difficult for the inflated belly khakhi-men and was accentuated due to reduced number of Khakhi clad personnel making some of them lost their cool and refusng to carry the aluminum boxes.
“This is not what we are there for. We there to ensure man and material reach safely at designated polling stations. If we will carry these then who will pull the trigger,” yelled a policeman. As per the arrangements made for Assembly elections the earlier ratio of 1:4 (one ASI for every four constables) has been altered to 1:2 (one ASI for every two constables). The additional equipment if agitated people on one hand it excited some security men as well. “What is thisIJ We didn’t carry these in previous elections,” said a constable.
Nonetheless, some put-up a brave face as they were left with no option but to carry the boxes with whatever resources available even if it meant walking on tough terrain by carrying VVPAT boxes on their shoulder. “What we can doIJ Be it small in sizes or large if we have to carry these then we have to carry at any cost. This is our duty,” said ASI Gopal Soren before heading to Mcluskiganj for election duty.