KATHMANDU, JULY 14: As many as 581 laptops bought by the Election Commission (EC) are in unused condition. The price of 659 laptops has not been disclosed. Of them, 581 are unused.

The laptops called 'Core i3' are left unused. The Office of the Auditor General has suggested taking action against the officials concerned as the equipment purchased by the commission haven’t been put to use.

The Office of the Auditor General has suggested taking action against the officials of the Election Commission in the report of the last fiscal year made public on Wednesday for allowing the purchase of goods but not utilizing them.

The poll body had purchased a high-speed digital color printer worth Rs 105.54 million in 2017. Also, printing machines worth Rs 218.34 million including spring digital monochromes worth Rs 112.8 million were purchased. All of them are currently unused. During the purchase in 2017, Ayodhi Prasad Yadav was the Chief Election Commissioner.

On 7 September 2020, the Public Accounts Committee of parliament, too, instructed the EC to use the purchased machines. The report of the Auditor General has pointed out that the directive given by the committee has not been implemented. The report of the Auditor General says that necessary action should be taken against the officials who purchased the machines without a feasibility study on whether the machines will come to use. "Thed purchased equipment should be repaired and put to use and in case of non-maintenance, action should be taken to sell them at auction with technical proof," the report said. As much as Rs 746,000 was found to be unaccounted for in the Election Commission. After submitting the preliminary report, Rs 197,000 has been cleared but Rs 549,000 still remains as arrears.

 
• Election_Commission
 
• laptops