The Election Commission (EC) has taken a project to buy two lakh new Electric Voting Machines (EVMs) costing Tk 8,000 crore which will be used at 150 constituencies in the 12th parliamentary elections.
According to the EC, each EVM machine will cost more than Tk 2.5 lakh. Apart from this, warehouses of 60-65 thousand square feet for storing these EVMs will be constructed in 10 regions under the project.
Officials at the commission said, earlier an EVM was bought at Tk 2.05 lakh. But this time an EVM will cost Tk 2.5 lakh due to the high price of the US dollar.
The project also included recruiting 1,000-1,200 manpower, the allocation for training to 2 to 2.5 lakh skilled manpower in EVM operation, and conducting the nationwide mass campaign.
The purchase of 2 lakh EVMs will cost more than Tk 5,000 crore. Apart from this, land acquisition for construction of 10 warehouses, construction of buildings, recruitment of manpower, purchase of vehicles and nationwide campaign of EVMs, and training of skilled manpower in operating EVMs will cost about Tk 3,000 crore.
The draft of the project will be presented to the election commission on September 8. After the commission’s approval, it will be sent to the planning commission.
EVM Project Director Colonel Syed Rakibul Hasan said the EC secretariat asked to prepare a Development Project Proposal (DPP). Works are going on to preparing it.
“The unit price of an EVM remains the same. However, the price of the dollar has increased and VAT-tax will be added. In total, the price for an EVM will increase slightly,” he said.
Rakibul Hasan also said the election commission has 1.5 lakh EVMs. Under the new project, it will buy 2 lakh more EVMs.
“These machines must be maintained. For this, 10 warehouses will be constructed in 10 regions. A warehouse is being designed to store 40-45 thousand EVMs. Cars will also be needed for this. However, the number of vehicles required will be fixed later.
Election Commissioner Md Alamgir said if EVMs are not procured in time under the new project, voting will be possible for only 70-80 seats by EVMs in the 12th parliamentary polls.
“If the secretariat provides EVMs in time, voting will be held in a maximum of 150 seats,” he added.
@ This report appeared on the print and online version of Bangladesh Pratidin on Monday (September 5) and has been rewritten in English by Tanvir Raihan and Golam Rosul
