LGRD ministry for national, local body polls on same day

The LGRD ministry proposed the holding of national and local body elections on the same day to save money and avoid administrative hassles. The Election Commission (EC), however, has the final say about the matter.
"In terms of manpower deployment and force deployment, the two elections would cost almost the same. Now the Election Commission will decide whether they would make arrangements for the elections on the same day or on different dates," said LGRD Adviser Anwarul Iqbal while talking to a private television channel yesterday.
"All the polling centres of the country would be used for national elections and upazila elections and if that could be arranged on the same day… it would be economical," he said.
The ministry is also working to prepare three-member mayor panels for the six city corporations in the country. Each panel should comprise of at least one woman, he said.
"If a mayor is absent, a member of the panel would automatically have the responsibility," he said.
He said the committee that was formed to recommend ways and means for strengthening local government bodies would submit its report to the chief adviser today.