More indelible ink needed for election

Guwahati, Mar 18: The Election Commission (EC) has estimated that 66,923.07 litres of ink would be required to mark the voters' fingers in the forthcoming elections to the Asom assembly.

This time, the EC has decided to mark the voter's finger from the upper tip of the nail to the first joint. Earlier, only the upper tip was marked with a single spot. Thus, more ink would be required, EC sources said.

As per estimates, a 200 ml ink bottle can be used to mark about 60 to 70 people. Thus approximately 66,923.07 litres of ink would be required to mark the fingers of the 1.74 crore electrorate in the state.

50 per cent of the total ink needed would be brought in from New Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra while Andhra Pradesh would account for 10-12 per cent of it.

West Bengal, which is set to go to polls after Asom, would provide only about two per cent of the total ink required. The rest would be provided from within the state.

UNI