Over 850 closed-circuit television (CCTVs) cameras to monitor the upcoming elections in Cumilla City Corporation (CCC) to ensure free, fair and transparent voting.
The Election Commission (EC) authorities have decided to set up a total of 850 CCTV cameras at every polling room and center alongside the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).
In this regard, the EC authorities already have invited tenders for the installation of the cameras at different strategic points, including all the voting rooms and centres.
The elections in CCC are the first-ever act of the new EC body, which was appointed in late last February.
Officials of the EC said that the CCTVs would be installed for the purposes of monitoring the entire voting activities and smooth management of the election process. The CCTVs would also help hold the elections free, fair and transparent, they said.
Khorshed Alam, a Deputy Secretary of the EC said that the tender has been floated on May 17 and the tender notice has been published in almost all the national daily newspapers on May 18.
According to EC sources, tenders could be collected and submitted from Wednesday. The last date for the sale of tenders is on 30 May and 11:00 am on May 31 is the last time to submit the tenders. The tender box will be opened at 12 noon on the same day (May 31). Tenders should be collected from the EC building in Agargaon and submitted to the same office.
Talking about the installation of the CCTCs, Election Commissioner Mohammad Alamgir said that CCTVs would be installed in each polling booth and outside all the polling centres.
He said that there are a total of 640 rooms for polling booths in 105 centres under 26 wards of the CCC. As a result, a total of 745 CCTV cameras are required for 640 rooms and 105 centres while 95 more CCTV cameras will be installed at some other strategic points. Therefore, the EC is going to install a total of 850 CCTV cameras.
It should be mentioned that the EC announced the schedule for the CCC election last April 25 and the voting will be held on June 15. The last date for submission of nomination papers by the candidates was on May and the last date for the withdrawal of the nomination papers is today (May 19). Symbols would be allotted among the candidates on May 27.