Salim Reza, Dhaka: The National Identity Registration Act, 2023 (Act No. 40 of 2023) has been repealed to place the National Identity Registration process in Bangladesh under the Election Commission. On Thursday, a responsible official of the Election Commission of Bangladesh gave this information to the Bangladesh correspondent of G24 Hours. Officials of the Election Commission of Bangladesh say that the previous Awami League government made a law in 2023 to transfer NID activities from the Election Commission of Bangladesh under the Security Services Department of the Ministry of Home Affairs of Bangladesh. In that law titled ‘National Identity Registration Act-2023’, it is said that the operation will be conducted under the Election Commission of Bangladesh until the government issues a notification and takes the program to the Security Service Department. Accordingly, NID is still under the Election Commission of Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, the civil society and the common people of Bangladesh including the advisors of the interim government of Bangladesh have been demanding to keep this program under the Election Commission of Bangladesh since the beginning. They demanded the repeal of the new law of 2023. Then (Thursday) the Act was repealed. Earlier, a letter signed by Election Commission Secretary Akhtar Ahmed was sent to the Cabinet Secretary on Wednesday to cancel the NID Act-2023.
The Election Commission of Bangladesh mentioned in the letter, ‘According to Article 119 (1) of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, the Election Commission is entrusted with the responsibility of supervising, directing and controlling the preparation of voter lists for the presidential and parliamentary elections and the conduct of such elections. Besides, there is an obligation to collect information from house to house in the preparation of voter list as per Section 11 of the Voters List Act, 2009 and Rule 3(c) of the Voters List Rules, 2012 and the orders of the High Court in relation thereto. Accordingly, the Election Commission is entrusted with the relevant tasks of preparing, updating and updating the voter list through continuous data collection from the primary level. The two outcomes of the activities described are; a) Voter List, and b) National Identity Card (NID).’
The Election Commission of Bangladesh also said, ‘In addition to national elections, the same voter list is also used in local government elections. On May 17, 2021, the then government took a decision to transfer the national identity registration process to the Ministry of Home Affairs of Bangladesh instead of the Election Commission. Accordingly, on June 7 of that year, through a letter sent from the Election Commission Secretariat to the Cabinet Secretary of Bangladesh, an opinion was sent in favor of keeping NID activities in the Election Commission. Thereafter, without any further communication or discussion with the Election Commission of Bangladesh, the National Identity Registration Act, 2023 (Act No. 40 of 2023) was repealed on September 18, 2023, repealing the National Identity Registration Act, 2010 (Act No. 3 of 2010). In continuation of this, on November 14, 2023, all activities related to national identity registration were included in the responsibilities of the Department of Security Services of the Ministry of Home Affairs in the division of functions between the various ministries and departments of the Rules of Business, 1996.
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The letter sent to the Cabinet of Bangladesh also mentions, ‘Although the National Identity Registration Act, 2023 was promulgated on September 18, 2023, as per Section 1(2) of the Act, the Act has not been implemented through the issuance of a Gazette Notification, but it has not been done so far, Section 30(3)- As per sub-section 1(b) of this National Identity Card program is being conducted by the Election Commission.
Meanwhile, on September 10 of last year, the President’s Office requested the President’s office to take effective measures to uphold the NID program to the Election Commission of Bangladesh by canceling the law and said, ‘In addition to national elections, the same voter list is used in local government elections as well. On May 17, 2021, the then government took a decision to transfer the national identity registration process to the Ministry of Home Affairs of Bangladesh instead of the Election Commission. According to sources, through a letter sent from the Election Commission Secretariat to the Cabinet Secretary on June 7 of that year, an opinion was sent in favor of keeping NID activities in the Election Commission of Bangladesh. Thereafter, without any further communication or discussion with the Election Commission, on September 18, 2023, the National Identity Registration Act, 2010 (Act No. 3 of 2010) was repealed and the National Identity Registration Act, 2023 (Act No. 40 of 2023) was enacted. In continuation of this, on November 14, 2023, all activities related to national identity registration were included in the responsibilities of the Department of Security Services of the Ministry of Home Affairs in the division of functions between the various ministries and departments of the Rules of Business, 1996.
Meanwhile, on September 10 last year, the Election Commission of Bangladesh requested the President’s Office to take effective measures to cancel the law and keep the NID activities with the Election Commission of Bangladesh.
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