EC seeks Tk429cr budget hike for smart NID project
"We have proposed the budget increase. We have put forward our request, and now the ministry will consider it," said EC Secretariat Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed
The Election Commission (EC) is seeking a substantial increase in its development budget for the current 2025-2026 fiscal year to ensure the continuation and expansion of the Identification System for Enhancing Access to Services (IDEA) Project (2nd Phase), which is crucial for maintaining the national database and issuing smart national ID (NID) cards.
The EC Secretariat has formally proposed increasing the project's allocation by Tk429 crore 70 lakh 58 thousand under the revised Annual Development Programme (ADP).
The proposal, submitted to the Finance Division and the planning ministry on 9 November, asks for the EC's total development budget for the current fiscal year to be revised from Tk229 crore 5 lakh to Tk658 crore 75 lakh 58 thousand.
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EC Secretariat Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed confirmed the development, telling TBS: "We have proposed the budget increase. We have put forward our request, and now the ministry will consider it."
The project, which began in December 2020 and was approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec), is officially due to end on 30 November this year. The EC's proposal, therefore, includes both an extension of the project's duration and an increase in the revised budget allocation.
Bangladesh's national identity management infrastructure has been developed through three major projects over the past decade, involving expenditures of several thousand crore taka.
The first project, Preparation of Electoral Roll with Photograph and Facilitating the Issuance of National Identity Cards, was followed by the Identification System for Enhancing Access to Services (IDEA) project, implemented between 2011 and 2020 at a cost of Tk1,696 crore.
The ongoing IDEA-2 project is the latest phase of this system.
According to EC officials, the request for additional funds has become essential due to rising implementation costs, technological upgrades, database maintenance requirements, and the expansion of smart NID services nationwide.
