Published :
Updated :
For all latest news, follow The Financial Express Google News channel.
The Election Commission (EC) wants an allocation of Tk 3 billion in the next national budget in order to conduct local government polls, including elections to the three city corporations.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal is set to place the national budget for the fiscal year 2019-2020 in the upcoming parliamentary session on Jun 13.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has recently hinted that the size of the budget would exceed Tk 5 trillion, reports bdnews24.com.
Enamul Haque, senior secretary to the commission’s budget department said that a letter has been sent to the finance ministry, seeking the funds to hold polls to Dhaka North, Dhaka South, and Chattogram City, the parliamentary by-poll and elections to the expired local government institutions.
The request for the allocation of funds for election management and law and order was approved by the EC, he added.
The EC plans to use the allocation for its development work under the budget to update the electoral roll with photographs, construct a server station to protect its database, distribute smartcards, verify national IDs and develop an election management system.