Sufferings over NID correction significantly reduced, only 76,694 out of over 9 lakh applications pending: EC

The Election Commission (EC) has claimed that public suffering over the correction of National Identity Cards (NID) has significantly reduced.

EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed shared the progress of a special initiative — termed the "Crash Programme"— at a press briefing held at the EC office in Agargaon today (2 July).

According to the secretary, as of 1 January this year, there were 378,806 pending NID correction applications. Between January and June, the commission received an additional 605,520 applications, bringing the total to 984,356 in six months.

Under the crash programme, the EC successfully processed 907,662 of these applications. Currently, 76,694 applications remain pending, he added.

"The number of NID correction requests is also decreasing each month, which shows the process is becoming smoother. We hope complaints of harassment over NID services will disappear soon," said EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed.

Previously, the commission used to receive nearly 100,000 applications per month, but that figure has now declined to around 80,000. 

The NID correction process has long faced criticism from citizens due to delays and bureaucratic hurdles. However, Akhtar Ahmed claims that recent efforts by the current Election Commission have started to ease these challenges.

To make the process more efficient, the EC Secretariat has classified applications into four categories based on the level of correction needed. Each application is reviewed along with the submitted documents and proceeds to a hearing before receiving final approval.

Since 2020, the EC has received 5,476,011 NID correction applications, of which 5,399,420 have been resolved under this four-tier system.

"I believe public suffering over NID services has eased significantly. The number of new applications is also on the decline. Within the next few months, the situation is expected to stabilize, and complaints of harassment may come to an end," the EC Secretary added.

When asked about NIDs being "locked" following the 5 August mass uprising and related controversies—including cases involving politicians—he responded: "NIDs are locked for various reasons, mainly to prevent misuse or fraud."