Mysore/Mysuru: With the term of the current Karnataka Assembly coming to an end soon and amidst elaborate preparations for the conduct of the next Assembly elections, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has directed city-based Mysore Paints and Varnish Limited (MPVL), earlier called Mysore Lac and Paints (MyLAC), to supply 1.3 lakh vials of indelible ink.

The ink will be applied on the forefinger of the left hand to prevent people from voting multiple times. The MPVL is the only indelible ink manufacturer in India and supplies indelible ink used in all Assembly and Lok Sabha elections that take place in the country. It also exports ink and other products to many countries of the world.

MPVL Chairman Raghu R. Kautilya said that the ECI has directed MPVL to supply 1.3 lakh vials and about 3.90 lakh wax sticks (glue sticks) to seal the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), strong rooms where the EVMs and VVPATs (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) are stored and other confidential materials.

Each indelible ink vial contains 10 ml of ink and the MPVL has already begun the process of ink production and will comfortably meet the demand like always. “We need less than a month’s time to produce the required quantity of ink,” Raghu Kautilya said.

The Election Commission will decide on the number of vials to be supplied to each polling booth. To a query, Raghu said there is no instruction for the supply of indelible marker pens.

Located at the new Bannimantap Extension in city, Mysore Paints and Varnish Ltd., was established in 1937 by Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar, the then Maharaja of Mysore under the name ‘Mysore Lac & Paint Works Ltd.’ The Government took over the factory in 1947 and in 1989, it was renamed as ‘Mysore Paints & Varnish Ltd.’