Election Commission, EC, has scrapped the provision to submit income tax returns for parliament election candidates.
At the same time, conditions for loan defaulters for taking part in election have become more lenient, said Election Commission Secretary Helaluddin Ahmed.
“From now on, submission of income tax return is not mandatory.”
Many farmers in the country take part in election who are outside the purview of income tax, to ensure participation for all, the provision has been repealed, he informed.
Regarding loan defaulters, the EC secretary said, “The previous rule made it obligatory for a candidate to clear his loans seven days prior to the submission of nomination papers; now a candidate can submit nomination papers just by paying off the loan.

He further said that to ensure a conducive environment, the home ministry’s public safety division has been given a directive to arrest drug users who may try to foil elections.

“The start of the drive will be decided at the next meeting of the home ministry.”

Order has been issued to remove all election publicity materials, posters, banners, festoons, within seven days of schedule declaration.

Education ministry has been asked to complete all exams by 10 December since many academic institutes will be used as voting centres.

To ease the arrival of foreign observers, foreign ministry has been asked to relax visa regulations, observed the EC secretary.