ECI Approves 16,500 More EVMs for Assam's Upcoming Assembly Polls

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: Assam received 16,500 more EVMs for the upcoming Assembly polls from Electronics Corporation of India Ltd (ECIL), following directions from the Election Commission of India (ECI). First Level Checking (FLC) of the newly arrived EVMs has started, and the FLC completion target is Feb 24.

Assam has a total of 31,486 polling stations. Of these, 27,711 are in rural areas, while 3,775 are in urban areas of the state.

During election time, there is a need for extra EVMs, on top of those required for the total polling stations, in case of any technical error. Assam requires around 50,000 EVMs for the smooth conduct of the polls. The state originally had these 50,000 EVMs, but a number of them were found to be defective in an earlier FLC. The Election Department, Assam, segregated the defective EVMs and then sent them to ECIL, following an approval from ECI.

After the despatch of the EVMs, a calculation of the EVMs required was made, and a requisition for 16,500 more EVMs was sent to ECI. The Commission then allowed the required EVMs to be sent from ECIL, one of the EVM manufacturing companies, to the state.

Currently, engineers of ECIL are engaged in FLC of the EVMs in the presence of representatives of political parties.

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