The government Tuesday approved the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) project at Tk 38.25 billion cost along with 13 other projects.
Presided over by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) endorsed the purchase of EVMs at its meeting at the Planning Commission (PC) in Dhaka.
The Election Commission (EC) will purchase 150,000 EVMs under the approved project aimed at using them in next elections for ensuring digital electoral system in the country.
According to the proposed draft, the EC will complete the purchase of the machine and complete all necessary works by June 2023.
It plans to buy 150,000 EVMs under the scheme and is proposed to run for five years.
The cost would include Tk 35.15 billion to buy the EVMs, Tk 50 million in campaigns for EVMs, Tk 100 million for transport, Tk 500 million for software, and Tk 750 million for furniture, officials said.
Emerging from the ECNEC meeting, Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said the Commission endorsed total 14 development projects at a combined cost of Tk 125.45 billion.
Out of Tk125.45 billion cost, the lion’s share of Tk 88.42 billion will come from the internal resources, Tk 34.45 billion fund from the external resources as project aid and remaining Tk 2.57 billion from the implementing agencies’ own exchequer.
Planning Minister Kamal at the briefing said the Prime Minister has suggested the authorities concerned to use the EVM gradually in the coming elections.
