"Initially, the task for preparing the voter roll with photographs will begin in Rajshahi City Corporation area. On receiving the required equipment, the task will begin in full swing in other places," Chief Election Commissioner ATM Shamsul Huda told reporters at his office yesterday.

"We will start the process for holding the polls soon after the voter list is ready," he said.

According to EC's original timeframe announced on April 5, the field level task was supposed to begin from November as the CEC had said that six months would be required to prepare the voter roll.

However, he later announced that the task would commence from August.

At present, the EC has been implementing a pilot project in Sreepur municipality of Gazipur from June 10 to gain field level experience for simultaneously preparing the voter list with photographs and national identity cards. The project is scheduled to be completed on June 30.

"After evaluating the field level experience, we will start the task in Rajshahi City Corporation from mid July," Huda said adding that it would take a week to evaluate the field level experience to be gathered from the ongoing pilot project.

"We can specify the exact time needed to prepare the voter roll with photographs after completion of the pilot project," the CEC observed.

On the ban on indoor politics, the CEC said that at present, the EC does not face any problem to discharge its functions due it. "But we may face problems after 2 to 4 months, if the ban remains," he said.

The CEC, who at a meeting with the law adviser on April 4 asked the government to remove the ban so that the EC can hold talks with the political parties on electoral reforms, said that the government would lift the ban when it finds the time convenient.

"Perhaps the government thinks that if it lifts the ban on indoor politics now, who (political leaders) will sit for dialogue with the commission as many senior leaders of the major political parties have been detained," Huda added.

He said that the EC had earlier planned to complete the task for electoral reforms by July. "Now it might be completed later and it will not be a problem for us," he added.

Meanwhile, the outgoing US Ambassador in Dhaka Patricia A Butenis yesterday called on the EC.

Emerging from the meeting, the US ambassador told reporters that it was her farewell meeting. "The election commission is working with transparency and its activities have also gain acceptability," she said.

At the meeting with the EC, she stressed the need for holding the parliamentary election as soon as possible, Butenis said.

UNB reports: A two-member UNDP delegation yesterday visited Sreepur to see the work of the pilot project for voter list with photographs and national identity cards.

Led by UNDP Programme Specialist Jessica Murray, the team went to Sreepur Pilot School, Kewamadra Registration Centre and Upazila Control Room. Officers of the technical team of the army and district election officer apprised the team of overall work of the project.

Meanwhile, 310 ID cards, which have already been prepared, were distributed among the citizens concerned through local Poura (municipal) chairman.