EC clueless about Smart Card distribution

The cards have not even been prepared as yet, let alone their distribution

Though the Election Commission (EC) has said several times that it will distribute the much-awaited, highly secured smart cards to the voters, still does not know when the distribution will begin. �
Whenever they are asked about the project, their only answer is that the mega task would be started soon or that it would be done before this year.
Though the five-year project funded by the World Bank will come to an end in June 2016, and the cards have not even been prepared as yet, let alone their distribution.
The EC officials say that though they are taking some time, they are in the final stages of the project.
In the meanwhile, they urged the voters to upgrade or make the correction to their existing national identity (NID) cards,
which will be replaced by the hard-to-fake smart cards.
�The smart cards will have 25 types of security measures in three layers. It would be very difficult to make any fake cards due to its various security systems,� Brig (Gen) Sultanuzzaman Md Saleh Uddin said.
Brig (Gen) Sultanuzzaman Md Saleh Uddin, Director General of the National Identity Registration Wing also told The Independent that voters can get their information upgraded or get a correction in their NID cards free of charge before August 1 as charges will be applicable from September 1.
He said that the citizens now have an opportunity to make any corrections, including photos, through online and off-line facilities before the 10-year smart cards are issued to them.
EC sources say that they have already corrected the information for 0.02 per cent (over 2 lakh) voters in their data banks, from 2008 to till now, and that the voters requiring such correction are not too many.
However, Saleh Uddin urged the voters to upgrade or make correction through the online mechanism, which is far more effective than the slow manual process.
�If the voters upgrade their data in the exiting NID cards, it will help them to get better, easier and smoother services through the smart cards as all their data will be embedded in the chip of the card. For example, if a person wants to open a bank account, he/she will only have to swipe the smart card and all data will be automatically filled in the account-opening form,� he said.
The smart cards will provide at least 22 different kinds of services to the common people The cards will be given free of charge for the first time. EC officials will deliver the cards to the upazila level and the enumerators will distribute them from there.
About the volume of distribution, he said, �We have the capacity to distribute 50-60 lakh smart cards per month.�
The commission has signed an agreement with the French company Oberthur Technology to manufacture and distribute 9 crore smart cards in digital format at a cost of Tk 796.27 crore.
In January 2015, EC Secretary Md Sirajul Islam had said, �We have recently signed the agreement and hope that the first lot will be distributed in April/May. If it is not possible, the cards will be distributed in a symbolic manner on March 26.�
But even the symbolic card distribution did not take place. Since then the EC has not provided any specific schedule for distribution of smart cards.
When asked about who will be the first person to get the card, he said, �Nothing has been decided yet. But all things will be decided soon.�
He said they will undertake an elaborate campaigning before the smart cards are issued.
�We hope to begin the campaign one or one-and-half months before distributing the smart cards,� he said.

EC clueless about Smart Card distribution

The cards have not even been prepared as yet, let alone their distribution

Though the Election Commission (EC) has said several times that it will distribute the much-awaited, highly secured smart cards to the voters, still does not know when the distribution will begin. � Whenever they are asked about the project, their only answer is that the mega task would be started soon or that it would be done before this year. Though the five-year project funded by the World Bank will come to an end in June 2016, and the cards have not even been prepared as yet, let alone their distribution. The EC officials say that though they are taking some time, they are in the final stages of the project. In the meanwhile, they urged the voters to upgrade or make the correction to their existing national identity (NID) cards, which will be replaced by the hard-to-fake smart cards. �The smart cards will have 25 types of security measures in three layers. It would be very difficult to make any fake cards due to its various security systems,� Brig (Gen) Sultanuzzaman Md Saleh Uddin said. Brig (Gen) Sultanuzzaman Md Saleh Uddin, Director General of the National Identity Registration Wing also told The Independent that voters can get their information upgraded or get a correction in their NID cards free of charge before August 1 as charges will be applicable from September 1. He said that the citizens now have an opportunity to make any corrections, including photos, through online and off-line facilities before the 10-year smart cards are issued to them. EC sources say that they have already corrected the information for 0.02 per cent (over 2 lakh) voters in their data banks, from 2008 to till now, and that the voters requiring such correction are not too many. However, Saleh Uddin urged the voters to upgrade or make correction through the online mechanism, which is far more effective than the slow manual process. �If the voters upgrade their data in the exiting NID cards, it will help them to get better, easier and smoother services through the smart cards as all their data will be embedded in the chip of the card. For example, if a person wants to open a bank account, he/she will only have to swipe the smart card and all data will be automatically filled in the account-opening form,� he said. The smart cards will provide at least 22 different kinds of services to the common people The cards will be given free of charge for the first time. EC officials will deliver the cards to the upazila level and the enumerators will distribute them from there. About the volume of distribution, he said, �We have the capacity to distribute 50-60 lakh smart cards per month.� The commission has signed an agreement with the French company Oberthur Technology to manufacture and distribute 9 crore smart cards in digital format at a cost of Tk 796.27 crore. In January 2015, EC Secretary Md Sirajul Islam had said, �We have recently signed the agreement and hope that the first lot will be distributed in April/May. If it is not possible, the cards will be distributed in a symbolic manner on March 26.� But even the symbolic card distribution did not take place. Since then the EC has not provided any specific schedule for distribution of smart cards. When asked about who will be the first person to get the card, he said, �Nothing has been decided yet. But all things will be decided soon.� He said they will undertake an elaborate campaigning before the smart cards are issued. �We hope to begin the campaign one or one-and-half months before distributing the smart cards,� he said.