Madhya Pradesh: Latest inspections find EVM components missing from safe rooms in few districts
Bhopal: Latest inspections have found that Ballot Unit (BU) and Detachable Memory Module (DMM), which act as key components of an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM), are missing from safe rooms in a few districts of Madhya Pradesh, according to RTI documents.
However, the RTI did not specify whether the EVMs were used in the last elections in the state.
These inspection reports were prepared during April and June this year and provided to RTI applicant Ajay Dubey who had sought details from the State Election Commission of the latest reports received from district administrations on security and management of EVMs.
Nine DMMs were found missing during the inspection of EVMs store room in Umaria, the reply said, without mentioning any reason behind it.
The Detachable Memory Module is an extra memory of the EVM which can be detached from the machine and stored separately.
According to Master Stock Register (MSR), there were supposed to be 2,709 DMMs in a strong room at a government polytechnic college in Narsinghpur district.
During inspection, 2,508 DMMs were not found, according to the reply given by the district administration.
In a note, the Narsinghpur district authority said 687 DMMs, which were not used in elections (without mentioning what polls they are referring to), were sent to the commission's office and those used in elections were sent to ECIL, Hyderabad for disposal.
There are 201 DMMs available in the store room, the administration of Narsinghpur district said, without mentioning details of other missing EVMs.
Nine Ballot Units were not found during the inspection of a strong room in Bhind district, the RTI reply said.
A ballot unit is is a small box-like device, on top of which each candidate and his/her election symbol is listed like a big ballot paper. The voter polls his vote by pressing the blue button against the name of his desired candidate.
Errors were found in 13 Control Units and 16 Ballot Units, during pre-first level checks, in May 2018, and they were not rectified by engineers sent by commission, said a copy of the report dated May 21, 2019 by Bhind district to the State Election Commission.
In Mandsaur, eight BUs were found missing and one DMM was missing in Shajapur district, according to the RTI reply.
A total of 26 DMMs were found missing in a strong room at Old Collector Bhavan, Balaghat district, it said, adding that 11 and 28 BUs were not found in the store room in Sagar and Gwalior districts, respectively.
There were districts like Ashoknagar, Shahdol, Dhar, Seoni, Shivpuri and Anuppur where all Control Units and Ballot Units were accounted for.
"A thorough probe is needed to immediately trace missing Control Units, Ballot Units or DMMs. It poses a serious security concern over the safety of EVMs," said Dubey.
There were some district administrations like Bhopal and Rewa, who have not submitted the inspection reports, he said.
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SC asks states to treat rising child trafficking cases as grave; seeks coordinated action
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court has voiced grave concern over rising cases of child trafficking, saying gangs are operating across the country and if States and Union territories do not take immediate action, thing will go beyond control.
The court said only the state government and its home department can act vigilantly in this regard.
“As a court we can monitor, but ultimately the action has to be on the part of the state government, the police, and other agencies. Therefore, this is our humble request”, a bench comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and K V Viswanathan said during the hearing of a plea on Wednesday.
The bench was irked over the "lackadaisical" approach of several states and UTs in implementing a 2025 judgment aimed at dismantling organised trafficking networks.
Justice Viswanathan said the retrieval of children in some cases proves the problem can be tackled, but it requires a level of political and administrative will which is lacking at present.
The verdict, delivered on April 15, 2025, had mandated several institutional reforms, including completion of trials in trafficking cases within six months on a day-to-day basis.
It had also directed strengthening of Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) and improving investigation standards.
Besides asking for setting up of state-level committees to monitor vulnerable trafficking hotspots, it had asked the authorities to treat missing children cases as trafficking unless proven otherwise.
Earlier, the bench had termed the compliance reports filed by a few states as "nothing but an eye wash."
On Wednesday, the bench noted that Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Haryana, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Odisha, and Punjab had still failed to file reports in the prescribed format.
When the home secretary of Madhya Pradesh offered an apology for the lapse, the bench granted a "final opportunity" but warned that continued failure would lead to states being officially branded as "defaulting".
The bench noted that at least 15 states are yet to constitute review committees mandated to identify and monitor trafficking-prone areas.
The matter will now be heard on April 29.
