Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Monday informed Parliament that the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is continuing its investigation into alleged irregularities surrounding the Tk3,825-crore Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) project.
He said the project, implemented between July 2018 and June 2024 under the Election Commission Secretariat, involved the procurement of 1.5 lakh EVM units at an estimated cost of Tk3,825.34 crore.
The minister made the disclosure while responding to a scripted question from treasury bench lawmaker Md Shamsur Rahman Simul Biswas (Pabna-5) during the day’s parliamentary session.
Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad, Bir Bikram, presided over the sitting as the House resumed at 3pm.
Mirza Fakhrul Islam said the project was completed in June 2024, after which the Project Completion Report (PCR) was submitted to the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division on 13 May 2025. However, he noted that the evaluation report is still pending.
He also informed Parliament that audit objections have been raised by the audit directorate regarding the EVM project, and those issues remain unresolved. In addition, an investigation is currently being conducted by the Anti-Corruption Commission into the matter.
The minister further said that the Election Commission decided on 10 July 2025, that EVMs would no longer be used in any national or local elections.
He added that the purchased EVM machines are now being stored in various warehouses, including facilities of the Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory (BMTF) and the basement of the Election Commission Secretariat.
