Voting Archives - Maeeshat

RTI throws up EVM irregularities in Maharashtra, UP poll commissions too (Part II)

by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics

By Quaid Najmi,

Mumbai : There are contradicting records of the numbers of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in stock, their costs, their mode of transportation and other details, as per replies received under the Right to Information Act.

Further, it has emerged that no audits have been conducted by the State Election Commissions of Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh on EVMs.

Seeking to corroborate the information received from Election Commission of India (ECI), Electronics Corporation of India Ltd (ECIL), Hyderabad and Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), Bengaluru, Mumbai RTI activist Manoranjan S. Roy had sought information on EVMs from two major states — Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh — and received alarming replies.

The Maharashtra State Election Commission (M-SEC) informed on May 2, 2017 that since 2014-2017, it had not conducted any audit pertaining to the number of EVMs, their cost, the security staff, mode of transportation of the EVMs, etc.

However, M-SEC confirmed it is in possession of 76,250 Balloting Units (BUs) and 76,050 Controlling Units (CUs) — the two parts of the EVM system. Additionally, the ECI had provided it with another 15,000 BUs and 110,000 CUs, each costing Rs.9,200 (BU+CU). But it gave no information on the number of defective EVMs lying with it.

When probed further on this, major differences came up in the information provided by the ECI on March 03, 2017 and July 01, 2017 — which points a needle of suspicion towards misuse of EVMs, Roy contended.

In response to a query, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said that for corporation elections on February 21, 2017, it had set up 7,304 polling centres in which it deployed 8,161 BUs and 7,304 CUs.

At that time, 136 BUs and 752 CUs were were found to be defective prior to the elections and another 16 BUs and 15 CUs broke down on election day.

To similar queries, the Uttar Pradesh State Election Commission (UP-SEC) said on 08-05-2017 that it had deployed a total 159,791 BUs and 147,164 CUs in the February-March 2017 assembly elections.

Like M-SEC, the UP-SEC also stated that no audits were conducted for the same, adding the (audit) could be available with ECI.

There were differences in the number of EVMs the UP-SEC said it had received from ECIL in 2012, since the ECIL had already made it clear it had not supplied any EVMs to any state during 2006-2013.

Also, the ECI and UP-SEC figures differ vastly on number of polling booths. According to UP-SEC, the total number of polling booths set up were 190,388 in Assembly elections 2017 while the ECI said the number of booths were 11,356 — an obviously incorrect figure.

For those elections, the BEL supplied 139,438 BUs and 105,218 CUs of Model M2MEK, and ECIL supplied 84,480 BUs and 85,170 CUs from five different states, totaling to 224,918 BUs and 190,388 CUs for the assembly polls.

Again at variance with the ECIL’s replies, the UP-SEC said on 30-10-2017 that in 2011, the company had supplied 16,730 BUs and 12,100 CUs for a payment of Rs 142.86 crore plus transportation and VAT of Rs 32,276.

The ECIL had earlier stated that from 2006-2013, it had not supplied any EVMs to any state, as per RTI reply of 16-09-2017.

No transportation details were provided by UP-SEC on grounds that the EVMs were received from different states across India.

The UP-SEC said for the 2017 elections, it received 6,000 BUs and 3,000 CUs from Maharashtra plus another 81,800 BUs and 47,750 CUs from the ECIL, contradicting the UP-SEC’s own figures which said on 08-05-2017 it had deployed a total 159,791 BUs and 147,164 CUs in the assembly elections.

On January 11, 2018, the Madhya Pradesh-State Election Commission (MP-SEC) had supplied on loan 50,000 BUs and 25,000 CUs of EVM Model M1 to the UP-SEC.

“The RTI replies by both Maharashtra and UP SEC’s show they have not conducted audits, maintained proper accounts, there are contradictions galore among all the concerned agencies on the number of EVMs supplies Or received, raising serious doubts on where such huge amounts of public money have actually gone,” Roy said.

“There are absolutely no records of which EVMs were actually used for elections, how many are defective or defunct, why and which different models were deployed, who has approved these different models, the type of software-hardware used and whether they are hack-proof, whether the software is dedicated (exclusive) or purchased from the markets, etc,” Roy said.

The net result is that large stocks of unaccounted EVMs along with BUs/CUs are lying with various state elections commissions all over India and prone to severe misuse by vested interests during different elections where they are deployed, he explained, adding that Karnataka elections are coming up in May 2018.

Moreover, since the past 30 years, there is continuous purchase of EVMs by the ECI for the elections, but even the basic details are missing.

“There’s clearly (unexplained discrepancy) running into many thousands of crores of rupees, blatantly going on since nearly three decades. If this is the situation in just two states, the state of affairs in all other states can well be imagined,” Roy said.

All this calls for a thorough review of the authentic stock position of all EVMs from 1989, the number of non-functional or defective EVMs of both the suppliers and the available stocks with all states, the models and software installed, etc, well before the next general elections, Roy demanded.

Roy has filed a Public Interest Litigation in Bombay High Court, seeking directions to all parties to provide all records/documents pertaining to EVMs, setting up of a suitable probe panel to ban EVMs till the logical outcome of the probe.

Part-1 : EVM skeletons in RTI replies: Contradictory numbers from EC, suppliers raise question mark on polls

—IANS

Thanks to Shamsheer, NRIs to be allowed voting

by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, News

The move will not only benefit large number of expats from Kerala, but the entire Indian Diaspora across the globe

By Shafeeq Hudavi,

Kozhikode (Kerala): His FaceBook cover page reads: “It has been a somewhat long journey and to be honest it has not been easy. We took up the matter just like we approach a critical corporate project.” #NRIVotingRights

This is in reference to what could be termed as a land mark judgment in the history of the toiling Indian Diaspora. The Supreme Court on January 12 directed the Centre to allow Non- Resident Indians (NRIs) to cast their votes in Indian elections.

Dr. Shamsheer Vayalil

If things go as expected, the long pending NRI voting right will be implemented soon and the NRIs – approximately over 10 millions – will emerge as a decisive force in the country’s electoral politics in their respective constituencies. This will make a huge impact in states such as Kerala, which has about 40 lakh people living abroad and possibly may be able to vote in the next election.

The man behind this is Dr Shamsheer Vayalil, an expat entrepreneur in UAE, who describes himself as “a man with deep conviction that by hard work and selfless service it is possible to make a difference in our world.” He is now joyous as his long battle has finally born fruit.

“I am truly overwhelmed by the support I have received. Words can’t do justice to my feelings right now,” he had written on his FaceBook page on the day of the Supreme Court directive. “We did it India! We did it NRIs! We are proud citizens with equal rights of the largest democracy of the world.”

Shamsheer, 38, was born and brought up at Chalappuram, one of the localities on the city outskirts. This Kerala native studied at Silver Hills High School and the Malabar Christian High School here. His father Hashim PK and mother Mariyu Barackool ensured a sound education for their ward.

He completed his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Science (MBBS) from Kasturba Medical College and received his Doctor of Medicine (MD) Degree from Sri Ramchandra Medical College.

Eight years ago, he migrated to UAE. He lives with his wife, three sons and a daughter at Abu Dhabi. First, he had started a hospital there. Now, the young entreprenuer runs as many as 13 medical institutions across GCC countries extending life care support to thousands of people in addition to the philanthropist activities taken up by him.

When TwoCircles.net contacted him, Shamsheer was busy at the World Economic Forum (WEF) held at Davos in Switzerland, where he held meetings with Indian Ministers and UNO officials seeking better privileges and consideration for the Indian Diaspora.

“There are about 10 million Indian citizens – from across 543 Lok Sabha constituencies – residing and working abroad. This estimated figure says an average 18,000 votes per constituency may get polled from foreign countries during the general and assembly elections. These votes can definitely play a crucial role in any given seat,” Shamsheer says.

Shamsheer decided to take up measures to materialise the NRI vote right after he was conferred with the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award, the highest recognition for NRIs by India in 2014. Shamseer was selected for the award for health care services and philanthropic activities taken up for the welfare and charity of the NRIs.

Dr. Shamsheer Vayalil attending a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, held in Gandhinagar

“I was drawn to the idea of implementing NRI vote right as I thought it would bring a facelift for the NRIs and a change in their status in the biggest democratic country,” he says.

The idea, why he pursued NRI voting right, he said is that “it will develop the expat community as one of the major vote banks in the country and in turn mean an active community, which can intervene in the policy making.”

Though remarkable revenue is generated by NRIs to the annual income of the country, the Indian Diaspora is left pleading for a better approach from the governments. “Now, when the NRI vote right materialises, the politicians and the governments will not be able to turn a blind eye towards their woes,” Shamsheer adds.
Spending huge amounts from his pocket, Shamsheer constituted a team to assess and study about the possibilities of materialising the vote right. The team conducted studies about the technical and legal aspects and held meetings with senior advocates and officials of the Election Commission. Finally, in October, 2014, Shamsheer filed the public interest litigation (PIL) at the Supreme Court seeking to enact the NRI vote rights.

The move is set to make a major impact in the democratic and economic scenario of the country, Shamsheer says and adds, NRIs would be inclined to invest in the country and will lend support to various projects envisioned by the government such as the Prime Minister’s ‘Make In India’ campaign.

Successful entrepreneur that he is, Shamsheer has been recognized by the UAE government, Indian government, industry & trade associations. His long list of awards and achievements include listed in ‘100 Most Powerful Indians in the Gulf by Arabian Business Magazine in 2012 and ‘Top 100 Indian Leaders in the UAE’ by Forbes Magazine in 2013.

The NRI vote, by way of e-ballot or through proxy, will need a change in current laws. Keeping his fingers crossed, Shamsheer, like other millions of expatriates, is keenly awaiting for the NRI vote right to become a reality.