EC to start Smart NID production by June

The Election Commission (EC) with the financial support of the World Bank (WB) is likely to start production of smart national identification (NID) cards by June this year for handing those over to the people, the WB Dhaka office said on Monday.
Under the "Identification System for Enhanced Access to Services (IDEA) Project" the EC is now working to produce the smart NID aimed at establishing a secure and reliable national identification system in Bangladesh for efficient, inclusive and transparent service delivery.
The World Bank is providing US$ 195 million worth of loans for strengthening the NID system in Bangladesh.
The project will produce and deliver 90 million Smart NID cards with robust security features to the Bangladeshi citizens. The EC signed a contract in January 2015 for production of the Smart NID cards, said the WB in a statement.
The EC has recently signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with the National Board of Revenue, the Bangladesh Bank and the Passports and Immigration Authority, which would be able to utilise the NID database for verification purposes.
The ministry of social welfare and the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics are accessing the NID database on a pilot basis, the WB said.
The WB statement said a stakeholder consultation meeting was organised in early February 2015 to brief the status of the NID system, the different ID verification services available, and seek feedback on system roll-out.
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