Staff Reporter :
The Election Commission (EC) 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 at Agargaon in Dhaka, he cited the ongoing voter list update as the primary reason for the delay, saying that EC officials are occupied with the process.
Currently, 400,000 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 375,000 pending correction applications would be processed within three months.
However, during a briefing yesterday, he said that 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 278,000 applications, but an additional 302,000 new applications have been submitted in the meantime,” Humayun said.
He added that 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.
While the EC initially hoped to resolve the backlog by June, the official acknowledged that newly submitted applications might still remain pending due to manpower constraints.
He assured that a structured monitoring system is being developed to track progress at the district and upazila levels.
The EC has also introduced three reporting formats for voter registration-one for overseas applicants, another for government jobholders, and a general format.
Addressing allegations of financial irregularities in the NID correction process, Humayun admitted that some syndicates have been taking money for expedited processing.
“I have received complaints that some individuals have taken money. The Detective Branch (DB) has been involved, and legal action has been taken. In Thakurgaon, a data entry operator has been arrested, and in Narsingdi, cases have been filed against two individuals,” he said.
