Election Commission to spend Tk 291cr for polls
All the 146 constituencies in the country have been declared vulnerable by the intelligence agencies ahead of the January 5 polls boycotted by BNP-led 18-party alliance.
While mostly Awami League and its rebel candidates are going to take part in the upcoming election, the intelligence agencies declared all constituencies ‘important’, meaning vulnerable, in view of the law and order situation. Although 154 candidates have already been elected unopposed the Election Commission (EC) has not cut the allocation of fund for maintaining the law and order in 300 constituencies.
The EC yesterday finalised the budget of Tk 291 crore for holding the 10th national polls in the 146 constituencies. The election expenditure in 2008 was set at only Tk 165 crore.
For the 10th national polls Tk 147cr will be spent on polling purposes and Tk 144cr will be used to maintain the law and order.
Of Tk 144 crore, Army, Navy and Air force will get Tk 54.26 crore, police and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) Tk 41 crore, Coast guard Tk 8.12 lakh, Ansar and VDB Tk 44 crore, home ministry one lakh taka and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Tk 4 crore.
About six lakh election officials have been engaged to conduct the election in 59 districts.
-With The Independent input
