EC employees suspend 'operational halt' protest over NID services

Officials and employees of the Election Commission (EC), who have been opposing the government's initiative to transfer control of National Identity Card (NID) services away from the commission, have suspended their "operational halt" programme, reports bdnews24.com.

The decision was announced by Mohammad Monir Hossain, convenor of the Election Commission Officers' Association, during a press conference held at the EC headquarters in the city on Tuesday.

"The EC is working on our demands," Monir said.

"It has formally communicated to the government and the consensus commission that NID services should remain under the EC. Given this, and in consideration of public services, we have decided to suspend our Wednesday's operational halt programme."

Meanwhile, SM Asaduzzaman, director general of the Electoral Training Institute, warned that a "complete shutdown" of NID operations could follow if the government does not make tangible progress toward meeting the employees' demands.

EC officials argue that previous discussions had yielded consensus among stakeholders in favour of keeping voter registration and NID services under the commission's authority.

The government has decided to establish a separate authority, the "Civil Registration Commission", to oversee NID services in the country.