After holding the fourth upazila parishad elections as well as Narayanganj 5 and Barisal 5 by-polls, the officials concerned and law enforcement agencies have sought additional allocation of funds from the Election Commission.
Returning officers, district election officers and law enforcement agencies sent letters to the commission in this regard.
But the commission is allocating a little against the demands, a senior assistant secretary told the Dhaka Tribune.
The returning officers’ offices sought additional Tk49 lakh, while the district election offices sought Tk52 lakh.
In Narayanganj 5 by-polls, Tk4.10 lakh more had been sought on behalf of the law enforcement agencies. In Barisal 5 by-polls, the officials concerned sought extra allocations for the expenditure on the polls.
Election Commissioner Mohammad Abu Hafiz said the upazila parishad polls had already ended, but the commission received some letters seeking extra allocations. The commission had allocated some money to them on logical grounds, he added.
EC’s Deputy Secretary Shahjahan Khan said necessary amount was allocated in all the upazilas. At present, additional allocations were sought from the district election offices, he added.
EC officials said the commission had decided to allocate Tk45,000-60,000 against over Tk1 lakh sought by each district election office. The commission also fixed Tk30,000 for the other districts.
Maximum Tk60,000 was allocated for Dinajpur, Rajshahi, Satkhira, Tangail, Sunamganj, Sylhet and Chittagong. Besides, returning officers from 16 districts sought additional Tk4,947,300, but the commission allocated only Tk651,000.
Even though the Narayanganj 5 by-polls was held on June 26, the law enforcers sought additional Tk410,000 for maintaining the law and order by the magistrates. However, the commission had decided to allocate only Tk35,000. But the EC did not take any decision about the allocations for Barisal 5 by-elections.