The total budget for the Election Commission has been increased by about Tk 868 crore. Such extra allocation of fund has been possible as the 12th National Parliamentary Election is scheduled to be held within this fiscal year (2023-24).
The proposed budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year (FY) placed at parliament shows that the development budget for the Election Commission has been decreased by Tk 467 crore, from the budget for the outgoing FY 2022-23.
But the operating budget for the constitutional body increased by Tk 1,357 crore in the proposed FY 2023-24 budget. Overall budget of the EC stood at Tk 2,406 crore in
the upcoming financial years from Tk 1,538 crore in the outgoing fiscal (2022-23) year.
The 12th national election is likely to be held in the last week of December this year or in the first week of the month of January in 2024.
The budget for the 11th national polls held in December, 2018 was Tk 700 crore.
EC sources said the commission has asked the government for Tk 3,954 crore to meet the expenses of the upcoming parliamentary and local government elections in meeting with officials of finance ministry in February this year.
As per the Finance Division, important activities, programmes and projects, which are scheduled to be implemented by the EC during the 2023-24 fiscal year include the 12th National Parliament General Elections, elections to six City Corporations, nine municipalities, 454 upazila parishads, 100 union parishads and by-elections to national Parliament and different local government bodies.
Other activities are celebration of National Voters’ Day, updating of electoral rolls with photographs, production, printing and distribution of paper laminated national identity cards, issuing of smart cards for national identity, registration of citizen’s form, registration of expatriate Bangladeshi citizens’ and issuing their Smart NID cards, establishment of NID mini archive.
