The Cabinet gave nod to Election Commission’s proposal for procurement of 1,615,000 new Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines.
According to the Indian Awaaz, the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said during a media briefing that the machines, if ordered in this month can be supplied by the manufacturers by September 2018. He said, through this voter will come to know whether his or her vote has been registered correctly or not.
He added that the total estimated cost would be Rs 31.73 billion excluding taxes and freight. The decision will enable use of VVPAT units in all polling booths in General Election of 2019. The Supreme Court had in October 2013 said every voter has a right to know whether his vote has been registered correctly.
VVPAT will prove as an additional layer of transparency for the satisfaction of voters and allay any apprehension in the minds of voters regarding non-temperability of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). Machines will be purchased during the current fiscal and next financial year from Bharat Electronics Limited and Electronics Cooperation of India.
