EVM project: EC takes technical committee's opinion instead of feasibility study
The Election Commission will resend the proposal for purchasing Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) to the Planning Commission with the recommendations of the technical committee, ignoring the commission's observation to conduct a feasibility study.
At a meeting on Thursday, the EC decided to resend the project proposal for buying 2 lakh EVMs to the Planning Commission on Sunday. Members of the technical committee have already signed the proposal with their recommendations.
EVM Project Director Col Syed Rakibul Hasan told the media that the Planning Commission has instructed to look into the salaries/allowances, transport and maintenance cost which can reduce the total project expenditure, but "it is nothing significant".
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"As we have less time for the project, we are replicating the present EVMs for which the opinion of the technical committee was required," said Col Rakib.
The estimated cost of the proposed EVM project is Tk8,711 crore. As per the rule, any project worth over Tk50 crore should have a feasibility study.
The EC had sent the project proposal to the Planning Commission to purchase and maintain 2 lakh EVMs on 19 October.
In its observation, the commission asked the EC to reduce the project cost and incorporate a feasibility study.
One of the major observations of the Planning Commission was to see whether the specifications of the EVMs that have been mentioned in the proposal are supported by the technical committee or not, Col Rakib said.
"We have completed that work and have been logged in the green book which means the project is now one of the annual development programme (ADP) related. The project will go to the finance ministry where they would scrutinise it," Col Rakib said.
As the EC has already been using EVM, there is no need to conduct a feasibility study again on the same machine, he noted. That's why the EC has been resending the proposal to the planning commission with the recommendations of the technical committee.
