NID Correction: EC fails to meet three-month target

The Election Commission has failed to complete National Identity Card (NID) corrections within the promised three-month timeframe, with officials now stating that the backlog of applications will take at least another six months to clear.

Last December, ASM Humayun Kabir, director general of the National Identity Registration Wing at the EC, had assured that all correction applications would be resolved within three months.

However, after three months and five days, he admitted that the process has not been completed on time.

Speaking to reporters at the EC headquarters in Dhaka yesterday, he cited the ongoing voter list update as the primary reason for the delay.

Currently, 4 lakh pending NID correction applications remain unresolved, with a new target set for completion by September.

On December 19 last year, the NID director general had told journalists that 3,75,000 pending correction applications would be processed within three months.

However, during a briefing yesterday, he said although the crash programme was planned for an early January start, actual processing did not start until December 29, leading to further delays.

"As of March 16, we have completed 2,78,000 applications, but an additional 3,02,000 new applications have been submitted in the meantime," Humayun said.

He said voter registration is currently the EC's priority, with 47,54,000 new voters registered as of March 22.

Due to this, officials have been unable to focus on processing NID applications.

"The voter registration process will continue until May 5. Once the workload decreases, we will be able to prioritise NID corrections," he said.