MEDIA reports on Tuesday said that in last three months, the mobile operators have lost 29 lakh subscribers following the introduction of re-registration of SIMs under bio-metric methods. Beginning in December last the government move apparently aims at screening out users of mobile phones without due registration now in the hands of illegal VoIP operators, criminal gangs and militant groups. It is clear that once the re-registration will become complete by the end of April the government and also the mobile phone operators will be able to know the real number of users with their detailed personal information and body-centric identifications. The decline in number of cell phone users is not the matter, what is important is unauthorized use of mobile phones must end. We hope that the new system will allow the authorities to check the misuse of cell phones in false names and identification to commit crimes. We also believe that with proper implementation of the drive the system will ensure collection of higher revenue from mobile operators without loopholes. In fact such re-registration and verification system should have come much earlier to curb illegal VoIP business which has alone cost the nation over thousands of crore taka annually. Bangladesh is the second country to introduce the bio-metric registration to ensure that the caller numbers are genuine and it can be reasonably expected that the number of crimes such as murder, extortion and cheating in the country should significantly come down now if otherwise not protected and politically sheltered. The government claims that illegal overseas calls through VoIP (Voice over International Protocol) has declined. It may be true for the time being. But in a country like ours where corruption is a flourishing business it is most likely that new way will be opened up in the name of verification. The State Bank of Bangladesh has failed to ensure proper verification of the use of modern technology and huge money has gone out of the Reserve Bank of the United States without our bank’s knowledge. All round plundering is being helped in the name of bureaucratic idea of development.We can only ask the politicians to think of development in terms of service to the people. Big project for big corruption cannot go on safely.The High Court acting on a writ petition has cleared the way for bio-metric method of registration fixing proper responsibility. This is about technology and the High Court Division should not have been asked to give a judicial view on this matter. The clearance obtained from the High Court Division will not in anyway absolve the government from the responsibility of the mess this new system will create.The truth is that some bureaucrats are showing the inexperienced politicians how the country is to be seen developing fast, no matter if the people are not convinced. The people should be ignored because they are not as smarts or knowledgeable as these bureaucrats know what is good for moving forward. The politicians are not in the driving seat as because election politics has cease to meaningful.If the politicians cannot assert their leadership being responsive to the people then we are all to suffer. The politicians will make themselves redundant.
