Mysuru: With the Karnataka assembly polls approaching, the Election Commission has placed an order for 1,32,000 10ml bottles of indelible ink to mark the fingers of voters with the Mysore Paints and Varnish Limited (MPVL), the only public sector company authorised to manufacture it for the entire country.
The company, which received the order on February 19, is almost ready with it. A bottle of 10ml indelible ink can be used for 400 voters, according to MPVL sources. The company has now developed a marker pen loaded with indelible ink, which can be used for double the number of people, but although it has approached the Election Commission of India with it, no decision has been taken on its use, sources reveal.
“So the traditional way of marking will be used this assembly poll. Marker pens will not be used for now,” they said.
A secret formula prepared by the National Resource Defence Corporation is used by the company to manufacture the ink for all the elections in India. Started by Mysuru Maharaja, Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar to manufacture paints and related products in 1937, the MVPL became a public sector company in 1947.
It was chosen by the Election Commission of India to manufacture the indelible ink in 1962 and was first used for the third general election in India.
Interestingly, MPVL has also received an order for one lakh 60ml bottles of indelible ink from Malaysia, says sources in the company.
