A total of 90 million Smart NID (national identification) cards will be delivered to the country’s citizens under the Identification system for Enhanced Access to services (IDEA) Project.
The World Bank is supporting the government in strengthening the NID system through the $195 million IDEA project to establish a secure and reliable NID system in Bangladesh for efficient, inclusive and transparent service delivery, said a World Bank media release on Monday.
The project will produce and deliver 90 million Smart NID cards with robust security features to the Bangladeshi citizens. The Election Commission signed a contract in January 2015 for production of the smart NID cards. The production of Smart NID cards is expected to start by June 30, 2015.
The Election Commission has signed MoUs with the National Board of Revenue, the Bangladesh Bank and the Passports and Immigration Authority, who would be able to utilise the NID database for verification purposes.
The Ministry of Social Welfare and the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics are currently accessing the NID database on a pilot basis.
A stakeholder consultation meeting was organised in early February 2015 to brief them about the status of the NID system, the different ID verification services available, and seek feedback on system roll-out.
The Rules and Regulations to implement the National Identity Registration Act, 2010 have been gazetted. Soon all citizens would be included in the NID database. Biometric data would be enhanced to make the NID system more comprehensive and robust.
As soon as the smart NID cards are available, more agencies in both public and private sectors would be able to access off-line services for NID verification purposes.
