New project imminent
All citizens to get a ‘one-ID’ card, project to cost Tk 91.93 billion
The government has taken an initiative to provide every citizen of the country with a single identity card. Children will receive the card from birth. The card will have to be used throughout their lives to access all kinds of services, including healthcare and education. The identity card will be called the Unified Digital Identity (One-ID).
The Information and Communication Technology Division has undertaken a new project to create this permanent and unique identity card. The project will cost Tk 91.93 billion. The government will provide Tk 76.63 billion, while the remaining Tk 15.30 billion will come as a World Bank loan.
The new project is called Digital Service Transformation for Access and Resilience (D-STAR). The Bangladesh Computer Council will implement the project, which will run from 2026 to 2031. The project has been sent to the Planning Commission for approval.
At present, children are issued birth registration certificates after birth, while they receive a National Identity Card (NID) at the age of 18. The new identity card will be issued to all citizens. Once they receive the new card, people will no longer have to provide the same information repeatedly to government offices.
The Information and Communication Technology Division says that once the single identity card is introduced, the existing cards will gradually cease to serve their current purposes.
The experiences of various countries, including the United States, Singapore, Estonia and India, are being considered in developing the single identity card.
Officials said services currently provided through cards such as the NID, Family Card and Farmer Card will be available through the new card. However, the details have not yet been finalised.
Asked about the initiative, Information and Technology Division Secretary Mamunur Rashid Bhuiyan told Prothom Alo that although the country currently has many types of cards, there is a lack of coordination among them.
Stating that some people have two birth registration certificates, while some have two passports, he said, "The new identity card will be unique and permanent. Even a newborn child will receive the card. No other card will be necessary."
Cost of Tk 369 per card
The experiences of various countries, including the United States, Singapore, Estonia and India, are being considered in developing the single identity card.
Information and Technology Adviser Rehan Asif Asad has named the concept of the new identity system “One Citizen, One Digital ID, One Wallet”—meaning each citizen will have a single card. It will serve as their digital identity and allow them to make digital transactions. However, exactly what information will be included on the new identity card has not yet been determined.
A review of the initial project proposal shows that the plan is to produce identity cards for 180 million citizens based on the latest census data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS). However, 200 million cards will be produced and printed. The estimated production and printing cost of each polycarbonate chip card is US$2 (Tk 246 at the current exchange rate).
In addition, Tk 123, (US$1) has been estimated for the distribution and delivery of each card. Thus, including production, printing, distribution and delivery, each card will cost Tk 369.
The National Identity Card could be used as a single identity card if desired. People under 18 could also be brought under the system.Professor BM Moinul Hossain, director, Institute of Information Technology, Dhaka University
The largest share of the project budget will be spent on card production and printing, as well as the collection and distribution of biometric data, including fingerprints. A total of Tk 73.80 billion has been allocated for these activities.
Bangladesh currently has various types of identity documents and identification numbers, including the NID, birth registration, passport, driving licence and Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN).
Experts say that if effective interoperability can be established among the databases for the NID, birth registration, passport, driving licence and TIN, there would be no need to collect the same information from citizens repeatedly. This would reduce hassles for citizens.
Questions over such a high cost at this time
The BNP (Bangladesh Nationalist Party) government has pledged to provide people with various cards, including Family Cards, Health Cards, Probashi Cards and Farmer Cards.
The Family Card programme will cost Tk 19.06 billion for card production and data collection. The Farmer Card programme will cost Tk 6.81 billion. The costs of the Probashi Card and Health Card programmes have not yet been determined.
The government is currently facing financial constraints. There is pressure for substantial spending in various sectors, while revenue collection remains low. Against this backdrop, questions have arisen over taking up a project costing nearly Tk 100 billion. Others, however, say the project will be implemented over five years, and the country may not face such financial constraints in the future.
Professor BM Moinul Hossain, director of the Institute of Information Technology at Dhaka University, told Prothom Alo that the National Identity Card could be used as a single identity card if desired. People under 18 could also be brought under the system.
He said this possibility could be considered before taking up a new project.