CCTV Coverage Expanded for Crucial Polling Centres
The government has allocated a special fund of BDT 719.83 million to install CCTV cameras at 21,946 highly important and risk-prone polling centres ahead of the 13th National Parliamentary Election.
According to the decision, each of these centres will be equipped with at least six CCTV cameras.
The allocation was approved on Tuesday, 20 January, at the 119th meeting of the National Implementation Committee for Administrative Reorganisation (NICAR)—also the first meeting of the interim government—chaired by Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus.
The information was disclosed at a briefing held at the Foreign Service Academy on Bailey Road by Deputy Press Secretary to the Chief Adviser, Abul Kalam Azad Majumder.
Explaining the overall plan, Majumder said that around 42,000 polling centres nationwide are being brought under CCTV surveillance for the upcoming parliamentary election and referendum. Of these, 6,552 centres already have CCTV systems installed, while the remaining centres will be covered under the new initiative.
He said the BDT 719.83 million allocation will primarily be spent on installing CCTV cameras at the 21,946 centres identified as highly important and vulnerable. Each of these centres will have a minimum of six cameras.
Majumder added that CCTV cameras at the remaining centres will be installed by the local administration using their own budgetary allocations. The process has already begun across all districts and is progressing rapidly. In several districts, CCTV coverage has reached nearly 100 percent.
He highlighted Gazipur district as a notable example, where 447 out of 935 polling centres have been identified as risk-prone and brought under focused surveillance measures.
The deputy press secretary expressed optimism that CCTV installation at the remaining centres would be completed by 31 January. He also noted that senior government officials have already inspected CCTV installation activities in various districts to ensure proper implementation.
DBTech/BJW/EK/OR
