Nagorik Sheba launches entrepreneur-driven passport service
For the first time in Bangladesh, citizens will be able to apply for and renew passports through an alternative, entrepreneur-driven channel instead of visiting conventional passport offices.
Service platform Nagorik Sheba has launched an entrepreneur-driven passport service outside traditional passport offices, marking the country's first citizen service connectivity hub aimed at delivering essential public services under one roof.
Lutfey Siddiqi, special envoy to the chief adviser on international affairs, inaugurated the launching ceremony in Gulshan today (4 September).
For the first time in Bangladesh, citizens will be able to apply for and renew passports through an alternative, entrepreneur-driven channel instead of visiting conventional passport offices.
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Currently, the project is running as a pilot and learning programme, bringing together about 400 services from various government offices, upazila parishads, and district councils. These include services related to passports, driving licences, birth and death registration, NID, and land records.
By the end of this month, at least 10 Nagorik Sheba pilot centres will be launched across six locations in Dhaka — Gulshan 1, Uttara Sector 6, Nilkhet, Ramna, Mohammadpur, and Banasree. Among them, the centres at Gulshan 1, Uttara, and Nilkhet are already fully operational.
Citizens are encouraged to visit their nearest Nagorik Sheba centre, share their service needs, and provide feedback to help improve service delivery.
The initiative aims to integrate multiple government services under one roof, sparing citizens the hassle of navigating hundreds of separate ministry websites.
To enable this, a national API connectivity hub is being developed, linking and making services interoperable with existing digital platforms, including ministry portals and Digital Centres.
