Karnataka - Mysore   

An ‘indelible’ contribution

MYSORE: What connection does Mysore city has with elections for urban local bodies across the State? No prizes for the guesses. As always, this time too the Mysore Paints and Varnishes Private Limited (MPVPL) has a role to play.

When political parties become busy working out strategies for winning the hearts of voters, employees of the State-owned company work overtime. It has to manufacture indelible ink (that is applied on the index finger of a voter to denote he has exercised his franchise) that is most vital for the elections. Incidentally, MPVL is the only company in the country to produce the marking ink used during elections.

According to the directions of the State Election Commission, the company has completed its task of producing the ink for elections to urban local bodies that will be held on September 28.

The company has despatched the consignment of 35,000 ink vials (each vial contains 5 ml ink) costing Rs. 15 lakh to Bangalore. The company, which is specialised in manufacturing indelible ink, has been supplying this special ink for the Parliamentary, Assembly and local body elections in the country since 1962. Importantly, the mark of the ink will remain on the finger for nearly 20 days, thus preventing fake voting.

The indelible ink comes in different packages — 5 ml ink in 10 ml bottle, 7.5 ml in 10 ml bottle, 20 ml in 30 ml bottle, 50 ml in 60 ml bottle and 80 ml in 100 ml bottle.

Each vial or bottle of ink containing about 5 ml of the indelible ink can be applied on nearly 300 voters. The indelible ink is based on a special chemical combination formulated by the National Physical Laboratory.

The factory was established in 1937 by Nalwudi Krishnaraja Wadiyar. The company is reckoned to be the largest manufacturer of ink in Asia.

The ink has been used successfully on more than 300 million persons over 45 years for elections, according to the company officials.

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An ‘indelible’ contribution

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