$195m WB credit for accurate national ID card
The World Bank (WB) yesterday approved a $195 million credit to Bangladesh in developing a reliable and accurate national identification (ID) system that will enable transparent delivery of benefits and services to the poor.
The credit will be used in Identification System for Enhanced Access to Services (IDEA) Project with which the Election Commission will build a system upon the existing voter-list database and modern technology will be used to produce robust national ID cards to protect citizens from fraud and forgery, said a WB press release.
The release said under the project identification numbers and cards will be issued to about 90 million Bangladeshi citizens of age 18 and above within next five years.
'A comprehensive national identification system will transform the way in which public services, including social benefits, are delivered to recipients' said Ellen Goldstein, WB Country Director for Bangladesh. “'It will also assist in better planning, minimising corruption and increasing transparency in service delivery.”
The project will also help build 'Digital Bangladesh by 2021' programme, it added.
“An important foundation for effective service delivery is the country's capacity to identify citizens accurately and quickly,” said Junghun Cho, Project Team Leader.
“The system will assist public agencies in identifying and verifying the identities of citizens as well as compiling data that would help focus social programmes to those most in need. It is also expected that private sector entities, such as banks and mobile companies, will benefit from their increased capacity to verify service users.”
The core information available through the system will also help track many other transactions undertaken by the public sector, including collection of tax revenues, and systematise a wide range of record-keeping, from land ownership to utility connection, it said.
The IDEA project would aid the government's effort to establish a reliable and authoritative national identification system that can serve as an efficient, secure data platform. The project would focus on developing a legal and policy framework for the national ID system, upgrading data quality, and supporting the strengthening of Election Commission to administer the national ID system.
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