Demand for transfer of NID services to BTRC
While the Home Ministry and the Election Commission are arguing over the issue of National Identity Card or NID, the Bangladesh Mobile Phone Subscribers Association has demanded the service be included in the supervision of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).
In a statement sent to media on Sunday, Mohiuddin Ahmed, president of the organization, said that at present, citizens have to do all their work with mobile phone numbers. An adult citizen can receive the service in a biometric manner with NID at the time when the customer's information is stored on the mobile phone and when the citizen receives the mobile phone or at the time of receiving the service. Therefore, I think it is very timely to hand over the NID service to the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).
Arguing for his claim, Mohiuddin said the recent news of the transfer of NID service to the home ministry from the Election Commission has raised various fears among civil society and the Election Commission and even among politicians. At one time NID was only used for compiling voter lists. This voter ID now has become a national identity card for the needs of the time and the needs of the state. At present, banking transactions, various public-private services, NID and cellphone numbers are mandatory for all family and social activities. About 17 crore 55 lakh active SIMs of the country are registered by NID in a biometric system. Moreover, the information of all adult citizens of the country will be with BTRC or the organization providing telecommunication services. With the advancement of technology, based on this information, BTRC and mobile operators collaborate to immediately search for a specific citizen in need of criminal gangs or the state. Therefore, it is reasonable to keep the citizen information in one place without keeping it with different organizations.
The president of the Mobile Phone Subscribers Association further said that through this every citizen will be able to ensure his safety. The government is constitutionally committed to providing information security to citizens. Therefore, in order to ensure the security of the information of the citizens, it is important to keep the information stored with the same organization. This will ensure accountability as well. The government can review our demands in more depth if wants. We can also cooperate in this matter.
