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New Delhi : Indian Statistical Institute(ISI) on March 22, 2019, presented its report on the sample size of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slip counting to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora and Election Commissioners : Ashok Lavasa and Sushil Chandra. The report was presented by Prof. Abhay G Bhatt, Head ISI, Delhi Centre.
It may be recalled here that in view of the varying demands for enhanced percentage of VVPAT Slip count during elections in the country, the Commission had engaged the Indian Statistical Institute to systematically analyse and scientifically examine the issue of VVPAT Slip verification with electronic count of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).
ISI is one of the most prominent and reputed national institution devoted to research, teaching, and application of statistics and sampling methodology in the country. Keeping in view their domain expertise and subject specialisation, the Commission decided to engage the Institute in arriving at mathematically sound, statistically robust, and practically cogent solutions to the issue of a number/percentage of VVPAT slip counts to done during the elections.
Apart from Prof Abhay G Bhatt, Head ISI, Delhi Centre, the Expert Committee also comprised Prof Rajeeva L Karandikar, Director, Chennai Mathematical Institute (CMI), and Onkar Prosad Ghosh, Deputy Director General (Social Statistics Division), Central Statistics Office, MOSPI, who was nominated by Director General, National Sample Survey Office (NSSO). Before finalizing its report, the Expert Committee had wide ranging consultations with other experts in the field of statistics and examined suggestions received from other groups.
This Expert Committee submitted its report titled ‘Random Sampling For Testing of EVMs via VVPAT Slip Verification’ to the Commission on March 22, 2019. The report submitted by the Expert Committee shall now be examined by the Commission and necessary action initiated, according to a PIB release.