Hot weather not behind EVM/VVPAT malfunction in Kairana, says government
New Delhi, July 30: Contrary to the claims made by the Election Commission that excessive heat and light was among the factors behind the large-scale malfunctioning of EVMs and VVPATs in Kairana Lok Sabha by-polls held in May this year, the government on Monday said that hot weather was not the reason.
In a written reply to the question in Rajya Sabha whether as per the Election Commission, malfunctioning in EVM machines was due to hot weather, Minister of State for Law and Justice P.P. Chaudhary said: "No sir".
The Minister also ruled out any possibility of adopting any alternative method other than using electronic voting machines (EVMs) and voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections which are scheduled to be held in April-May 2019.
The MPs - Neeraj Shekhar, Javed Ali Khan and Ravi Prakash Verma - had asked if the Election Commission proposes to conduct next general election in any other manner as April-May are peak hot months.
The Minister said in the reply that such a possibility "does not arise".
Chaudhary said that as per the ECI data, during the bye-elections to Kairana Lok Sabha and Noorpur Legislative Assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh held on May 28, out of a total of 2056 EVMs/VVPAT units used, seven EVMs and 388 VVPAT units malfunctioned.
An EC report had in June said that in Kairana, 355 VVPATs (20.82 per cent) were reported malfunctioning which needed to be changed. In Noorpur, 29 paper trail machines (8.25 per cent) had to be replaced due to malfunctioning.
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Food adulteration: UP restaurants asked to install CCTVs, eateries to display names of proprietors
Lucknow, Sep 24: Taking cognisance of incidents of spitting and mixing of urine in eatables in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday directed that the name and address of operators, proprietors and managers should be mandatorily displayed at all food centres.
He also directed that chefs and waiters should wear masks and gloves besides making installation of CCTVs in hotels and restaurants mandatory.
Addressing a high-level meeting here, Adityanath said the presence of human waste in food items was disgusting and ordered strict action against those who adulterate food items with human waste or dirty things, an official statement said.
On September 12, a purported video showing a teenager spitting on rotis while preparing them at an eatery in Saharanpur district went viral on social media, leading to the arrest of the facility's owner.
Last week, a juice vendor in Ghaziabad district was arrested for allegedly serving fruit juices mixed with urine to customers. In June, two men were arrested by police in Noida for allegedly selling juice contaminated with their spits.
In view of such incidents, the chief minister has also given instructions for thorough investigation, verification of all hotels, dhabas, restaurants, and related establishments in the state.
Instructions were also given to amend the rules as per the need while ensuring the health safety of the general public.
Adiyanath said, "Dhabas, restaurants and food establishments should be thoroughly investigated and police verification of every employee should be done and necessary amendments should also be made in the Food Safety and Standards Act to ensure the purity and sanctity of food items."
According to the statement, now it will be mandatory to display the name and address of the operator, proprietor, manager etc. at the food centres.
"Now whether it is a chef or a waiter, they will have to wear masks and gloves and it will be mandatory to install CCTV in hotels/restaurants," the chief minister said.
In the meeting, Adityanath said in recent times, incidents of adulteration of food items like juice, pulses and roti with human waste, and dirty things have been seen in various parts of the country.
"Such incidents are gruesome and have an adverse effect on the health of the common man. Such efforts cannot be accepted at all," he said.
Concrete arrangements are necessary to prevent such incidents in Uttar Pradesh, he said, adding that by running a state-wide intensive campaign, verification of all the employees working there including the operators of these food establishments should be done.
The chief minister said this action should be completed quickly by a joint team of Food Safety and Drug Administration, police and local administration.
Earlier this year, the Uttar Pradesh government had mandated it for food stalls and fruit vendors along Kanwar Yatra routes to display the names of shop owners. The government argued the directive, which was criticised by a section of people, was aimed at promoting transparency and informed choice of Kanwariya regarding the food they eat.
