EC yet to distribute smart NID cards in Barisal

It has been two months since the Barisal Election Commission (EC) office received the smart national identity (NID) cards. But these are yet to be distributed among voters in the city. The slated date for the distribution has been changed thrice, said a Barisal EC office source. First, the date was fixed as April 1. It was changed to April 15, and later, to April 23. But the cards were not distributed, apparently because of some technical fault.
Md Abdul Mannan, the election officer of Barisal Sadar, said they had received 217,413 smart NID cards in all. But a technical fault was detected when the smart NID cards were being distributed in Dhaka, Chittagong, and Rajshahi. So, the authorities decided to update the technology and then distribute the cards.
Another source in the office revealed that the laptops in use were outdated. So were the fingerprint and the retina scanners. These created problems during the card distribution in Dhaka, Chittagong, and Rajshahi.
The EC intends to complete the distribution of 90 million smart NID cards across the country by December. But the pace of the work has not been encouraging so far. Sources said due to errors, 3,150 smart NID cards had not even been sent to Barisal.
This fiasco has left people in the city miffed. The smart NID card is now mandatory for getting a TIN number, driving licence, passport, bank account, marriage registration, and admission to educational institutions.  Reportedly, over a lakh smart NID cards were found in the godown of the Barisal EC office yesterday. People wonder why these were not being distributed.
Bonde Ali Mia, a retired professor, said his son, who is a student at Dhaka University, was repeatedly requesting him to send him his card. He had been to the Barisal EC office several times but did not get the card, Bonde Ali complained.
Amirul Islam, a data entry officer at the Barisal EC office, said they were the ones to face the people’s ire every day.

EC yet to distribute smart NID cards in Barisal

It has been two months since the Barisal Election Commission (EC) office received the smart national identity (NID) cards. But these are yet to be distributed among voters in the city. The slated date for the distribution has been changed thrice, said a Barisal EC office source. First, the date was fixed as April 1. It was changed to April 15, and later, to April 23. But the cards were not distributed, apparently because of some technical fault. Md Abdul Mannan, the election officer of Barisal Sadar, said they had received 217,413 smart NID cards in all. But a technical fault was detected when the smart NID cards were being distributed in Dhaka, Chittagong, and Rajshahi. So, the authorities decided to update the technology and then distribute the cards. Another source in the office revealed that the laptops in use were outdated. So were the fingerprint and the retina scanners. These created problems during the card distribution in Dhaka, Chittagong, and Rajshahi. The EC intends to complete the distribution of 90 million smart NID cards across the country by December. But the pace of the work has not been encouraging so far. Sources said due to errors, 3,150 smart NID cards had not even been sent to Barisal. This fiasco has left people in the city miffed. The smart NID card is now mandatory for getting a TIN number, driving licence, passport, bank account, marriage registration, and admission to educational institutions. Reportedly, over a lakh smart NID cards were found in the godown of the Barisal EC office yesterday. People wonder why these were not being distributed. Bonde Ali Mia, a retired professor, said his son, who is a student at Dhaka University, was repeatedly requesting him to send him his card. He had been to the Barisal EC office several times but did not get the card, Bonde Ali complained. Amirul Islam, a data entry officer at the Barisal EC office, said they were the ones to face the peoples ire every day.