Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

In an RTI reply asking for the price of Electronic Voting Machines, a big difference is observed in the figures provided by the Union Law Ministry and the Election Commission. The purchase of EVMs is done from two public sector manufacturers, ECIL and BEL.

A Mumbai based activist, Manoranjan Roy who had filed for RTI seeking the information on the price of EVMs had gotten a reply by Law ministry last year on November 1 in which it stated that 13,95,306 balloting units (BUs) and 9,30,716 control units (CUs) of EVMs were purchased, totaling to 23,26,022 pieces. However, on December 11, last year itself, the RTI reply by Election Commission stated that out of the total 38,82,386 pieces from the two public sector undertakings which manufacture EVMs, Bharat Electricals Ltd (BEL), Bengaluru, supplied 10,05,662 BUs and 9,28,049 CUs, totaling 19,33,711 pieces, while Electronics Corporation of India Ltd (ECIL), Hyderabad, supplied 10,14,644 BUs and 9,34,031 CUs—a total of 19,48,675 pieces.

The figures provided by Election Commission is higher by 15,56,364 to what the Law Ministry has provided.

A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed related to the disparity in price of EVMs before the Bombay High Court. The PIL was filed in March this year which will come up for further hearing in the Bombay High Court on October 3.

The last hearing was held on September 19 where a division bench of Justice SS Kemkar and Justice SV Kotwal had served notices to the ECI, Union Home Ministry, IT Department, Maharashtra Government, ECIL and BEL to respond.

The RTI activist, Mr. Roy said ,“What is the reason behind such huge differences in the figures given by the Union Law Ministry and ECI? Since the ministry would rely on data provided by the ECI, it is the latter which must clarify on the issue”.

These RTI raises important questions on how EVMs were delivered “by post” or “by hand”, and other relevant issues.

By fatima

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