Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Nov 3: The State is spending over Rs 100 crore on the Assembly polls being held in 5 phases.
Official sources told Excelsior that the projected expenditure for the polls has been estimated over Rs 111 crore.
The costs have gone up since 2009 due to inflation and conducting awareness campaigns for voters. Over the last few years, Election Commission has been trying to draw more voters, digitise electoral rolls and prevent buying of votes.
An official said that poll expenses in the last five years have surged due to the enrollment and revision of new voters. He said increasing use of electronic equipment, use of technology from the stage of enrolling voters to the counting exercise has also raised the expenditure.
“We also videograph polling and campaigns of political parties. These measures have increased the expenses manifold in recent times,” the official said.
He said the distribution of voter slip ahead of election date, use of Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail in polls also increases expenditure. Another major expense is preventing parties from distributing cash to voters.
An official in the Finance Department said the Government had projected a total expenditure of Rs 32.62 crore in the fiscal year 2013-2014. “But after revising the estimate for the same fiscal year it rose to Rs 37.53 crore,” he said.
The amount, however, does not include the expenses incurred for security forces and the amount which the political parties would spent for campaigning. However, the expenditure towards law and order maintenance is borne by the State.
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