Smart card distribution begins today

The Election Commission (EC) will begin distribution of highly secured machine-readable smart National Identity (NID) cards, replacing the existing laminated cards today. EC sources said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the distribution of smart cards at a function at Osmany Memorial Auditorium today.
The distribution of smart cards will begin in Ramna under Dhaka South City Corporation and Uttara under Dhaka North City Corporation and in Fulbari upazila of Kurigram district tomorrow.
Smart cards will first be handed over to President Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and members of the national cricket team, sources said.
EC secretary Md Sirajul Islam told The Independent that all citizens would not get their smart cards at a time. It would be a continuous process and all citizens would get the cards by December 2017, he added.
“The citizens who have become voters by 2014 will get the smart cards in phases. But those who became voters in 2015 will get it later,” he said. The EC would collect impressions of 10 fingers and take pictures of the irises of the cardholders and they would have to return their old laminated cards, he added. Sources said the number of voters in the country was 9,98,98,553 till January 31 this year. Of them 5,03,20,362 were male and 4,95,78,191 were female voters.
The EC distributed a total of over 8.10 crore laminated NID cards eight years ago for the first time.
In 2007, the previous EC, headed by ATM Shamsul Huda, introduced the NID card service with the help of the Army before the 2008 parliamentary elections.
The EC decided to introduce the smart cards after it was found that some unscrupulous people were forging the laminated NID cards. The machine-readable smart cards will preclude such forgery.
To maintain security of smart cards, 25 international certifications and standards have been ensured. The microchips in smart cards will contain all relevant information of a citizen.
The cardholders will get 25 types of services, including banking, TIN, driving licence, agriculture, jobs and passport. Sirajul Islam said the smart cards distribution project would end in December 2017. A decision would be taken afterwards as to how the cards would be given later.
“We’ve thought of this matter what will happen when the project would be completed in December 2017. A decision will be taken later whether another project will be taken up,” he added. The EC signed an agreement with a French company, Oberthur Technology, for manufacturing and distributing nine crore smart cards in digital format at a cost of Tk. 796.27 crore.
The smart cards will initially be distributed free of cost, but people will have to pay Tk. 200 to get the new cards, if the cards are lost or destroyed. Tk. 300 will be charged if the card is lost a second time while Tk. 500 will be charged if the card is lost or destroyed again. If anyone wants to obtain smart cards on an emergency basis, he or she will have to pay Tk. 300 to Tk. 1,000, according to the National Identity Registration Rules, 2014.
Sultanuzzaman Md Saleh Uddin, director general (DG) of National Identity Registration Wing, said: “We have the capacity to distribute 50 to 60 lakh smart cards per month.”
To get the smart card, the NID holder has to be present physically at a specific time and at a specific place with the existing NID card.
Those who have been registered as voters but have not got the NID cards, have to bring the original registration slip. Those who have lost NID cards or slips, have to go to respective upazila/thana/election offices with a GD copy from the respective police station.
Voters can get information about the distribution date and centre of smart NID Card by logging on to www.nidw.gov.bd and calling hotline number 105.
The NID numbers, date of birth or form numbers and dates of birth of voters will be needed to know the information. Besides, voters may also be able to know the NID distribution location and date by texting the hotline number. To know the date and location, a voter will have to type SC followed by a space, his or her 17-digit national identity card number (13-digit NID card holders have to write year of birth at first) and send an SMS to 105. Those who have been registered as voters but have not got the NID card have to type SC space form number space D space date of birth (yyyy-mm-dd) and send the SMS to 105.

Smart card distribution begins today

The Election Commission (EC) will begin distribution of highly secured machine-readable smart National Identity (NID) cards, replacing the existing laminated cards today. EC sources said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the distribution of smart cards at a function at Osmany Memorial Auditorium today. The distribution of smart cards will begin in Ramna under Dhaka South City Corporation and Uttara under Dhaka North City Corporation and in Fulbari upazila of Kurigram district tomorrow. Smart cards will first be handed over to President Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and members of the national cricket team, sources said. EC secretary Md Sirajul Islam told The Independent that all citizens would not get their smart cards at a time. It would be a continuous process and all citizens would get the cards by December 2017, he added. The citizens who have become voters by 2014 will get the smart cards in phases. But those who became voters in 2015 will get it later, he said. The EC would collect impressions of 10 fingers and take pictures of the irises of the cardholders and they would have to return their old laminated cards, he added. Sources said the number of voters in the country was 9,98,98,553 till January 31 this year. Of them 5,03,20,362 were male and 4,95,78,191 were female voters. The EC distributed a total of over 8.10 crore laminated NID cards eight years ago for the first time. In 2007, the previous EC, headed by ATM Shamsul Huda, introduced the NID card service with the help of the Army before the 2008 parliamentary elections. The EC decided to introduce the smart cards after it was found that some unscrupulous people were forging the laminated NID cards. The machine-readable smart cards will preclude such forgery. To maintain security of smart cards, 25 international certifications and standards have been ensured. The microchips in smart cards will contain all relevant information of a citizen. The cardholders will get 25 types of services, including banking, TIN, driving licence, agriculture, jobs and passport. Sirajul Islam said the smart cards distribution project would end in December 2017. A decision would be taken afterwards as to how the cards would be given later. Weve thought of this matter what will happen when the project would be completed in December 2017. A decision will be taken later whether another project will be taken up, he added. The EC signed an agreement with a French company, Oberthur Technology, for manufacturing and distributing nine crore smart cards in digital format at a cost of Tk. 796.27 crore. The smart cards will initially be distributed free of cost, but people will have to pay Tk. 200 to get the new cards, if the cards are lost or destroyed. Tk. 300 will be charged if the card is lost a second time while Tk. 500 will be charged if the card is lost or destroyed again. If anyone wants to obtain smart cards on an emergency basis, he or she will have to pay Tk. 300 to Tk. 1,000, according to the National Identity Registration Rules, 2014. Sultanuzzaman Md Saleh Uddin, director general (DG) of National Identity Registration Wing, said: We have the capacity to distribute 50 to 60 lakh smart cards per month. To get the smart card, the NID holder has to be present physically at a specific time and at a specific place with the existing NID card. Those who have been registered as voters but have not got the NID cards, have to bring the original registration slip. Those who have lost NID cards or slips, have to go to respective upazila/thana/election offices with a GD copy from the respective police station. Voters can get information about the distribution date and centre of smart NID Card by logging on to www.nidw.gov.bd and calling hotline number 105. The NID numbers, date of birth or form numbers and dates of birth of voters will be needed to know the information. Besides, voters may also be able to know the NID distribution location and date by texting the hotline number. To know the date and location, a voter will have to type SC followed by a space, his or her 17-digit national identity card number (13-digit NID card holders have to write year of birth at first) and send an SMS to 105. Those who have been registered as voters but have not got the NID card have to type SC space form number space D space date of birth (yyyy-mm-dd) and send the SMS to 105.