centre-to-deploy-12-000-gps-equipped-vehicles-for-real-time-tracking-of-evms-and-vvpats-in-j-k

To conduct elections in a free and partial manner, a 'GPS Control Room' will be established at the District Election Officer (DEO) and Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) levels, where the movement of EVMs and VVPATs will be monitored and tracked using the Vehicle Tracking System (VTS) and other related infrastructure and applications.

 

This system is being implemented as per the Election Commission of India's guidelines for Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs), including transportation, storage, security, and other aspects aimed at maintaining transparency in the election process.

The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer of Jammu and Kashmir has already initiated the procedure in this regard.

 

"It was desired that the management of EVMs and VVPATs including reserve EVMs and VVPATs, which are carried by the Sector Officers for need-based replacement on the poll day, needed to be further streamlined," said official sources.

 

"The end-to-end movement of all EVMs and VVPATs on pre-poll days and election day (including reserve EVMs and VVPATs) will be closely monitored at all times, and all polling parties' or Sector Officers' vehicles must be GPS tracked.

 

 The GPS-enabled Vehicle Tracking System utilized in vehicles carrying EVMs and VVPATs will allow for real-time tracking and monitoring of their movement," they said.

 

GPS Tracker Devices are to be installed inside these special-purpose vehicles. The vehicles would be stationed at various places within J&K, and for that, the CEO of Jammu and Kashmir has issued a Request for Proposal (RFP).

As per the RFP, the GPS Tracker devices must be installed within the restricted time frame specified by the individual ROs and DEOs.

 It is critical that at least one person (technical expert) every 40 vehicles install, configure, and troubleshoot the GPS tracker devices.

 

Further, services will be provided to over 700 polling locations, with all of them fully functional and operating beginning on Election Day.

A GPS-based vehicle tracking technology would be used for election duty vehicles, along with a web-based interface with a secure login at the CEO Jammu's office.

Each GPS Tracker device will be mapped with the 'Attributes Data' given by the individual DEOs and CEO J&K.

GPS Tracker Devices will be installed, commissioned, and configured within the vehicles, as well as integrated with VTS (Vehicle Tracking System) software.