Dhaka, May 9 -- The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) plans to purchase 150 tablet computers at Tk 59,300 each for a new project.

This is more than five times the price paid per device bought during the Population and Housing Census two years ago, which was Tk 11,336.14.

The national statistics agency has proposed purchasing tablets at this unusually high price for the Bangladesh Poverty and Livelihood Statistics (BPLS) project, which aims to carry out a household income and expenditure survey (HIES) and create a poverty map.

The Statistics and Informatics Division (SID) of the planning ministry recently submitted the development project proposal (DPP) for the new initiative to the Planning Commission, outlining an estimated cost o...