News
EC in fresh bid to hold local council polls
View(s):- Requests initial funding of Rs. 2.2 billion from Treasury and the balance in three months
By Damith Wickremasekara
According to the revised schedule, the Commission has said that for the conduct of the polls, it will need only Rs 2.2 billion initially, and the rest could be released within three months.
Election Commissioner R.M.A.L. Ratnayake told the Sunday Times that the fresh initiative had been taken as another effort to ensure that the long-overdue local council elections were conducted soon.
He said they had also taken into consideration that the government’s financial position had improved now and that some of the court rulings related to the local council elections were due.
This is the first major effort by the newly appointed Election Commission to secure funding for the conduct of the elections, which have been postponed multiple times.
According to the breakdown provided to the Treasury by the Elections Commission, the EC has worked out that after the election day is announced, it will require Rs 1.1 billion for the conduct of the poll: Rs. 100 million in the first 15 days after calling for elections, another Rs. 500 million in the next 15 days, and Rs. 500 million in the next 20 days.
In addition, the police will require Rs. 400 million, the Government Printer Rs. 200 million, and the Postal Department Rs. 500 million before the polls are conducted.
Accordingly, only Rs 2.2 billion will be needed until the elections are held, the Commission has said. The remaining Rs 6.8 billion will be required after the elections.
The Commission has given a three-month time frame to pay the rest of the money. In the first month, Rs. 1.9 billion; in the second month, Rs. 1.5 billion; and in the third month, Rs. 1 billion.
In addition, the dues to be paid to the other departments after the elections are as follows: Rs. 1 billion for the police, Rs. 300 million for the Government Printer, Rs. 700 million for the Postal Department and Rs. 400 million for others.
The elections scheduled for earlier this year were postponed on the grounds that Treasury funds were not available.
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