13th parliamentary election: Govt to spend Tk 250m on publicity

The government will spend Tk 250 million on publicity to create a festive atmosphere ahead of the upcoming national parliament elections.

Primarily as part of awareness campaigns among the public, the plan includes producing TVCs, video documentaries and other materials, and displaying them through LED activation caravans in all 64 districts and 300 upazilas of the country.

The work will be awarded directly to the event management firm Brand Solution Limited without a tender, using the direct procurement method.

The proposal received in-principle approval at a meeting of the Economic Affairs Advisory Council Committee, presided over by economic adviser Salehuddin Ahmed at the secretariat today, Tuesday..

It is understood that since the work is scheduled to begin in November, there is insufficient time to hire an event management firm through an open tender.

Therefore, under the government’s procurement regulations (PPPR) for urgent state requirements, the Ministry of Cultural Affairs submitted a proposal to hire Brand Solution Limited via direct procurement. The advisory council reviewed and gave in-principle approval to the proposal.

Meanwhile, to achieve the target of timely rice procurement under urgent state needs, the Ministry of Food submitted a proposal to reduce the tender submission period under PPPR for the international open tender of 300,000 tonnes of rice from 42 days to 15 days from the date of newspaper advertisement. The advisory council committee gave in-principle approval to this proposal as well.