National Identification Card in Bangladesh: Making Democracy Work, Governance Easier

Mobasser Monem; Hasan Muhammad Baniamin

National Identification Card in Bangladesh: Making Democracy Work, Governance Easier

Journal of Regional Studies and Development
Abbr : JRSD
2011, 20(1), pp.113-149
Publisher : Institute for Poverty Alleviation and International Development: IPAID
Research Area : Social Science > Area Studies > Regional Studies in general > Comparative / Statistical Regional Studies

Mobasser Monem ¹, Hasan Muhammad Baniamin ²

¹University of Dhaka
²North South University, Dhaka

Candidate

ABSTRACT

Seventy-nine million National ID cards (NID) were distributed to Bangladeshi citizens as part of the 2007/2008 voter registration process. The cards served as powerful incentive for voters to come to registration centers. During the voter registration process the Bangladesh Election Commission declared that the ID cards would be required for accessing 22 public and private sector provided services. This study reveals that the citizens of Bangladesh are currently using the National ID cards for accessing goods on credit, processing taxpayer identification numbers, registering SIM cards, hiring employees, proving the age of garment workers, making utilities connections, accessing health services, accessing banking services and processing other government documents. In fact, efforts have been made by the government to harmonize and integrate the use of National ID cards and sharing the national ID card database with various government and private sector institutions since July 2008. The Bangladesh Election Commission (BEC) continues to create and issue new National ID cards as part of its national voter registration update process. The BEC has implemented safeguards to prevent multiple registrations. These safeguards include the cross- referencing of registration data at a local and national levels. On the whole, the national ID cards are making tremendous impact on the daily life of the citizens of Bangladesh. On the one hand, it is contributing significantly to hold trustworthy elections and thus solidifying the democratic practices and improve the system of governance in various ways on the other.

KEYWORDS

National ID card, Governance, Democracy, Bangladesh, Ghana, Pakistan

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.

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