The Election Commission (EC) is planning a major initiative to bring students of government primary schools under the National Identity Card (NID) service.
In the initial phase, it has been proposed that underage citizens between the ages of 6 and 16 be included in the registration process. However, no final decision has yet been made on the matter.
Senior Election Commission officials disclosed the plan on Saturday (November 7).
According to EC sources, the matter was discussed in detail at a recently held policy-making meeting of the Election Commission. During the meeting, EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed formally proposed registering underage citizens for NID cards. He noted that, to facilitate the creation of a database of children aged 6 to 16, the registration process could be launched directly through government primary schools.
Following the meeting's decisions, Abul Fazl Md. Sanaullah, the Election Commissioner and Chairman of the Committee on the Application of Information Technology in National Identity Cards, Voter Lists and Election Management, directed that a detailed workshop be organized on the issue.
The Director General of the National Identity Registration Wing (NID Wing) has been assigned the responsibility of preparing a practical set of recommendations after gathering opinions from relevant stakeholders and experts.
Currently, the Election Commission allows citizens to obtain a National Identity Card upon reaching the age of 17, while their names are automatically included in the voter list once they turn 18.
However, various stakeholders have long been calling for younger citizens to be brought under the NID system to facilitate access to different public services and ensure reliable identity verification. In response to these demands, the Commission is now actively considering the registration of minors.
Meanwhile, according to the EC's latest updated statistics, Bangladesh currently has a total of 128,777,643 registered voters. Of these: Male voters: 65,510,665; Female voters: 63,265,711; and Third-gender voters: 1,267.