New Guidelines for EVM Bihar Elections: Preparations for Bihar assembly elections are in full swing. Even though the Election Commission has not yet announced the voting dates, but before that an important change has been implemented. This time, when voters reach to vote, they will see colorful pictures of candidates on EVM ballot. Earlier, photo black and white used to be printed on ballot paper.

The Election Commission says that this initiative is being first started from Bihar. Later it will also be implemented in other states. Under the new guideline, the picture of the candidate will be in three-fourths on the ballot paper so that voters can easily identify the face. Also, the sequence number will also be given more prominence than before. Let us know how much the Election Commission spends on installing EVMs at a booth.

EVM cost

According to the Election Commission data, the price of the ballot unit is around Rs 7991, while the price of control unit has been fixed at Rs 9812. VVPAT is more expensive than these two, which costs around Rs 16,132. Once purchased EVM machine can be used for 15 years on an average, which argues to reduce the cost of election. However, critics believe that after the election ends, it costs a lot in keeping EVMs safe and hi -tech monitoring on them.

How much is spent for EVMs at polling booth

It is not an easy task to hold elections in a huge democratic country like India. To ensure transparency and security at every booth, the Election Commission has to spend a large amount. According to the reports, only 50 to 60 thousand rupees are spent on an average on installing EVMs at one polling station and arrangements related to it. This includes the technical system of EVMs, transport, deployment of security forces and all the allowances of polling personnel.

Expenditure from Assembly to Lok Sabha

If we talk about the assembly elections, millions of booths are made in a state. In such a situation, the total cost reaches thousands of crores of rupees. At the same time, the scope of Lok Sabha elections is much larger than this. More than 1 million polling booths are set up all over the country. According to this, only the cost of thousands of crores of rupees is incurred on booths and EVM management.

The Election Commission says that this expenditure is spent for the strength of democracy and guarantee of fair election. Expenditure includes security arrangements, personnel training, facilities at polling stations and voter awareness campaigns. Experts believe that this investment is necessary for technology and transparency.

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The hearing of the case related to the Special Register of Indian (SIR) has started in Bihar in the Supreme Court. During this time, senior Congress lawyer Kapil Sibal said that it is very important to decide whether Aadhaar can be recognized as evidence of citizenship or not. He said that some steps being taken by the Election Commission are not in line with the orders of the Supreme Court and it should be given immediate attention.

During the hearing, the judge asked Sibal, “We are unable to understand why you put so much emphasis on the basis of every hearing? Are you considering it as evidence of citizenship?” Kapil Sibal clarified, “We are not saying so, but the court order said that Aadhaar should also be recognized. Taking a decision on this basis should be part of the judicial process.” Kapil Sibal said in front of the court that it is necessary to decide whether the Aadhaar is valid or not. He also questioned the Election Commission and said that the action that the Commission is taking is wrong and the orders of the Supreme Court are not being followed.

During the hearing, the judge asked this question

During the hearing, the judge asked, “We are unable to understand why you are giving so much emphasis on the basis of every hearing? Are you considering it a proof of citizenship?” On this, Sibal clarified that his aim is not to present Aadhaar as a proof of citizenship. He said, “We are not saying so. But the court had earlier ordered that Aadhaar should also be accepted.”

Kapil Sibal gave this argument

Kapil Sibal further said that BLO (BOTH Level Officer) is not accepting this, while he has received its oral order. He told the court that it is necessary to give clear instructions in this case. He further said that the Election Commission has issued a ‘show cause’ notice to those officers who did not accept Aadhaar. He said that the court needs to give clear guidelines so that the order of the Supreme Court can be ensured.

Notice of notice

The judge asked to see the notice. Sibal read it and narrated it. After this, Election Commission lawyer Rakesh Dwivedi explained the situation to the court. He said that the order of the Supreme Court has been widely publicized and people are also uploading copies of Aadhaar online, but clarified that the Commission cannot consider Aadhaar as evidence of citizenship. The judge questioned the topic of the notice that no other documents other than 11 documents could be accepted for citizenship. Dwivedi said that he has to see this, because he does not have the notice of another party.

“Aadhaar will be considered a proof of identity”

The judge clarified that in addition to passport and birth certificate, no other documents of 11 documents can be considered as evidence of citizenship. Sibal proposed that Aadhaar should be declared as 12th document. The judge said, “Aadhaar is not a proof of citizenship, but under the Representation of the Public Representation Act, it can be recognized as evidence of identity.”

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