The Election Commission has revealed an addition of 747,322 members of law enforcement agencies will be deployed during the upcoming 12th national parliamentary polls.
The number mentioned does not include the armed forces. Whether or not the armed forces will be involved in the election is still undecided, but there have been initial talks about it, according to an EC source.
The EC shared this information in a meeting with representatives from the police, RAB, BGB, and Coast Guard on Monday afternoon.
The primary topic of discussion in the meeting was the budgets of these agencies. Each agency submitted their budget requests separately, and some of them also asked for extra funds. However, the Election Commission has not yet made a decision regarding these requests.
After the meeting, EC Additional Secretary Ashok Kumar Debnath told reporters: “We had a meeting with the law enforcement agencies responsible for election security. We discussed a potential budget, and they submitted their manpower requirements. However, the final amount will be determined based on the number of members appointed according to the Ministry of Finance's approved rate.”
He said: "They have requested an advance allocation, and we have discussed the amount we can provide, considering the allocation."
When asked about the budget requested by law enforcement agencies Ashok Kumar Debnath said: "Since it is not final, I can not comment on that. However, I can provide the number of members responsible: 516,000 Ansar members, 182,091 police and RAB members, 2,355 Coast Guard members, and 46,876 members from the BGB will be present at the election field."
According to their ranks, members of the law and order forces receive allowances. A policeman's minimum allowance is Tk536, and the maximum is Tk1,200. RAB also receives the same allowance rates.
BGB members will receive a minimum allowance of Tk400 and a maximum of Tk1,225. The Coast Guard's minimum allowance is Tk637, with a maximum of Tk1,800. Ansar members receive a minimum allowance of Tk1,000, with a maximum of Tk1,050.