50 lakh Dhaka voters to get smart NID cards from Oct

Some 50 lakh voters in the capital are going to receive smart national identity (NID) cards from the next month replacing the existing laminated ones.

Election Commission (EC) has already completed all the necessary preparations to start the distribution of the high security featured cards on October 2 next in the capital.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to inaugurate the distribution programme.

As per the EC's plan, the voters of Dhaka city and Rowmari upazila of Kurigram district will be provided with the smart cards in the first phase. Subsequently, all other voters across the country will get the cards in phases by December 2017.

“We're ready to distribute the smart cards,” Director General of National Identity Registration Wing of the Election Commission Brig Gen Sultanuzzaman Md Salahuddin told UNB.

Prints of 10 fingers and photographs of (eye) irises of voters will be taken during the distribution of the smart cards, he said.

EC officials said the printing of the smart cards is now going on in full swing in 10 machines imported from the USA. Each machine can produce 950 cards an hour.

The smart cards and machinery to take fingerprints and photographs of irises have already been sent to 10 thana election offices of the capital. Some 75 makeshift camps will be set up in the capital to provide the smart cards from 93 wards of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) and Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC).

Two lakh cards will be distributed a day from the camps. The voters who have laminated the NID cards need to submit the laminated ones to get the smart NID cards.

Alongside distribution of the smart cards in the capital, the Commission is also continuing its preparation to provide such cards among other voters across the country. The production cost of each smart card is some US$ 2 that will have the 10-year validity.

The 10-digit smart cards will be distributed free among the country's voters initially under the EC's Identification System for Enhancing Access to Services (IDEA) project. But the service takers will need to pay fees to avail of services in the case of renewal, damage and losing of the cards.