DHAKA, May 31, 2021 (BSS)- Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud today said the authority of issuing National Identity (NID) card should be bestowed upon the concerned ministry like the other countries of the world.
“The National Identity Card and Voter Identity Card are not same. Everyone from children to elderly person is given the National Identity Card and the card is issued by home or concerned ministry all over the world. The Election Commission doesn’t do it. The Election Commission only works with voter lists,” he said.
The minister stated this while replying to a query of newsmen after attending a discussion at Jatiya Press Club in the capital.
Association for the Prevention of Drug Abuse-Bangladesh organized the discussion marking the World No Tobacco Day. This year the theme of the Day is ‘Commit to Quit’.
Hasan said logically it was in the hands of the Election Commission when there was only a project to prepare voter lists in the country. Now, it should be done by the concerned ministry like other countries of the world as the NID card is being issued, not the voter list, he added.
The minister said the Home Ministry collects all data and information to provide NID card. “The ministry (home) also provides passports at home and abroad. So the decision that has been made on this issue is the same as other countries of the world,” said Hasan, also Awami League joint general secretary.
He said after issuing the NID card, the list of those who are eligible to be voters above 18 years of age must be handed over to the EC. The apprehension raised by the EC is baseless, he added.
Replying to another query over Begum Zia’s health issue, Hasan said the government has taken all steps to provide the highest treatment to Begum Khaleda Zia. The demand for sending her abroad is baseless, he added.
The minister urged the BNP leaders to give thanks to the Prime Minister as she has shown her unprecedented generosity by extending Begum Khaleda Zia’s release from jail on humanitarian ground.
In the discussion, he said the government has a plan to free Bangladesh from tobacco by 2040. The ratio of the number of smoking has been reduced for the different pragmatic steps of the government, he added.
The daily Jugantor Editor Saiful Alam and general secretary of the association Ferdows Wahid took part in the programme with its president Professor Dr Arupratan Chowdhury in the chair.