Apart from causing enormous loss to the economy, the current political turmoil is forcing the government to count an extra cost on the maintenance of law and order in the country, officials said.
As such, they said, the government has moved for making a special allocation of Tk 835 million for the country's key law-enforcement agencies which have been deploying their members for extra hours.
The reinforcements are needed for tackling unabated violence during the ongoing blockade-plus-hartal programme of the BNP-led opposition alliance, hell-bent on securing fresh polls under a neutral administration.
According to the officials, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) already has sent proposals of the agencies concerned for extra allocation to the Ministry of Finance (MoF).
The proposals are packaged with a request for quick disposal of the money.
The MoHA has sought the amount on the basis of emergencies to meet additional expenses on grounds of food, transport, the requisition of vehicles, fuels, allowances and so.
Such perks are an imperative for ensuing restless duties of the security forces to protect 'citizens' life and property from subversive act'.
Under the latest move, Tk 433 million was sought for Bangladesh Police while Tk 260 million and Tk 142 million for Bangladesh Ansar & VDP and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) respectively, the officials said.
A senior official at the MoHA, seeking anonymity, confirmed the move for special allocation in such a special situation the country passing through for the political impasse.
It is urgently required for the law enforcers for their relentless jobs to ensure tight security arrangements across Bangladesh during the spate of violent activities.
"We, the ministry, hope the finance ministry will release the requisite money as fast as it can. The allocation will help ensure public safety and security of property of both public and private holdings from subversives," he said.
The police in its proposal said a total of 94,949 policemen and policewomen --- 62,802 personnel in day and 32,147 in night shifts --- have been working round the clock all over the country to maintain smooth law and order.
For the purpose of supplying cooked or dry foods to the deployed police personnel, Tk 7.12 million will be needed per day-Tk 75 per head. Accordingly, Tk 640 million will be required for three months from January 5 last, it said.
But the country's prime security force, police, has Tk 208 million in its own budget as extra expenditure, it said.
Bangladesh Ansar & VDP in its estimation said a total of 8,328 of its men were deployed at 1041 vulnerable railway points to protect rails, tracks, bridges and other railway infrastructures from "anarchists".
An additional allocation of Tk 260 million will be needed in the form of their allowances and contingency costs for 90 days, the auxiliary force said.
And paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) in its financial requirement said a total of 715 platoons of BGB men under the instruction of home ministry have been deployed for the last one month to assist the civil administration in the face of sudden deterioration of law- and-order situation.
Having resource constrains, the paramilitary force is using privately owned vehicles to carry its members from remotest border areas of the country. Simultaneously, a good number of its own vehicles are being used to execute the 'petrol and picketing' duties.
It said the BGB men sometimes engage in uninterrupted duties for 12 to 18 hours for patrolling highways and assisting special operation. It is not possible to meet the expenses with the allocated fuel budget of the force because of lengthy deployment.
Seeking special allocation to foot additional bill for transportation and fuel, the force placed an estimation of its expenses for 18 days (from December 29 to January 15) worth Tk 142 million.
According to the financial quotation, Tk 75 million each was spent for renting vehicles and supplying dry foods while Tk 55 million for fuel purpose and Tk 5.0 million for installation of makeshift camps.
The highest number of (301 platoons) of BGB members have been deployed in Dhaka Sector followed by Rangpur Region (177 platoons), Sarail Region (123 platoons), Chittagong Region (68 platoons) and Jessore Region (46 platoons).
According to the calculations, government's additional expenditure for maintaining law and order is above Tk 500 million till January 30, 2015.
The breakdowns of special duties: 33 days' duty of BGB (from December 29), 26 days of police (from January 05) and 19 days of Ansar and VDP (from January 12).
The government needs to spend Tk 17.90 million in addition per day in line with the calculations. Â
When contacted, State Minister for Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said they had sent the requirement proposals to the finance ministry and expressed his optimism about quick release of the finances.
Appreciating the role of the law enforcers, he said they have been working in addition to their scheduled duties only to protect people and property in the wake of violence. Â
At the same time, the ministry in a latest move deployed 12,000 Ansar-VDP men at vulnerable points of highways and regional roads across the country to combat troublemakers.
"Nothing is to worry about…the situation will be improved within next few days as general people have started raising their voice against the anarchists," the state minister said. He claims the situation is completely under their control.
The country's law-and-order situation has deteriorated since January 5 when two major political groups - the ruling Awami League and the BNP-led 20-party alliance-called rallies in the capital on the first anniversary of the 10th parliamentary elections, boycotted by the alliance.
Sensing violence, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) on the day imposed a temporary ban on holding rallies and other forms of gathering in the city.
Having been confined to her party office, BNP Chairperson and ex-PM Khaleda Zia called indefinite nationwide blockade on roads, rivers and railway in protest as the government didn't allow her party and allies to hold rallies.
Since then, around 41 people have been killed in arson attacks, clashes and other forms of violence in various parts of the country over the first 25 days of blockade till Thursday.
During the time, 777 vehicles were torched and damaged allegedly by the pickets.
Trade, transportation and other economic activities have been affected substantially, business chambers said.  Â
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