EC seeks Tk1,260cr for repairing 1.1 lakh EVMs
Decision of using EVMs in the next national elections depends on the fund availability, Election Commissioner Anisur Rahman says
The Election Commission is going to send an official letter to the Ministry of Finance to seek Tk1,260 crore to repair 1.1 lakh electronic voting machines (EVMs), which are planned to be used in the upcoming national elections.
"Out of 1.5 lakh EVMs, some 1.1 lakh require repair, for which we need Tk1,260 crore, while the rest of the machines are dead. We, in our last Commission meeting on 15 March, decided to write to the ministry to know whether it will provide the fund or not," Election
Commissioner Md Anisur Rahman told reporters at his office in the capital yesterday.
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"The letter is ready. We are likely to forward it tomorrow [Tuesday]," he added.
The Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory has been contacted for the repair work and the estimation came from the agency.
"If we are assured of the required funds, we will go for the work immediately. We can even make half payment to the Machine Tools Factory in this fiscal year and the rest half in the next fiscal year. The final decision now depends on the finance ministry," he said, adding that they will think differently if the fund is not granted.
"Hence, the decision on EVMs use in the next elections depends upon the fund confirmation," said Anisur Rahman, adding that the repair work will take some six months. "So, we need an immediate response about the fund availability. If it is positive we can prepare for using EVMs in 70-80 seats."
The election commissioner said they are hopeful about the fund release as they got an unofficial green signal from the high-ups of the government.
