Cabinet clears way for purchasing Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail units

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday cleared the purchase of 16,15,000 VVPAT (Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail) units that leave behind a paper trail after a voter presses a button in an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM). One VVPAT machine, an official statement said, would cost Rs. 19,650.

Last week, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Nasim Zaidi urged the Law Ministry for an urgent release of funds, given the “prevailing environment”, to facilitate procurement of VVPAT machines for the conduct of 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters on Wednesday, “the Prime Minister felt that unnecessary and manufactured controversy have been raised over EVMs after the recent Assembly election results””.

Mr. Jaitley said. “If you lose and blame machines, that doesn’t make the machines bad.”