"Commission stands fully committed to deploy VVPATs along with EVMs in all future elections so that transparency of electoral process is enhanced, integrity of the voting is preserved and voter's confidence in the process is further strengthened. It is felt that the process of procurement of VVPATs cannot be delayed any longer given prevailing environment," Zaidi argued in his letter. As on date, EC owns around 53,500 'Generation 3' or M3 EVMs which come with a paper trail. However, to hold an entire Lok Sabha poll with VVPAT, EC would need and estimated 15.5 lakh more new-age EVMs.Since June, 2014, the Commission has given at least 11 reminders to the government seeking funds for VVPAT machines. Last year, Zaidi wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for sanction of Rs 3,174 crore for procuring VVPATs.

Source: Times of India April 16, 2017 12:45 UTC