SSN will entitle the permanent, temporary residents and foreign nationals residing within the country to different types of computer-readable cards comprising vital statistics of the person concerned. Sources at Home Ministry said that SSN was perceived as a significant tool to implement the SSP. SSP, which is allocated a budget to the tune of Rs 1.5 billion, is now undergoing its three-month long preliminary phase. [break]
“SSN will be an integrated code for each individual residing in the country, which will keep an up-to-date record of his\\her social status," a joint-secretary of the Ministry told myrepublica.com. “SSN is common in the developed countries. We need to introduce the system not only to address security concerns but also to make the task of governance easier.”
The Home Ministry reportedly will call private sectors to undertake the project soon after the proposal is endorsed by the cabinet. A senior police officer, who was consulted by the ministry to prepare the proposal, said that the SSN would boost the current method of crime control, investigation and policing in general.
The idea of SSN has been welcomed by senior security personnel who lament that social security suffers lack of a central database of individuals living in the country. “This system is a must. It would ideally strengthen our capacity to enforce law and order,” said Chief of Metropolitan Police Range Navaraj Silwal.
Security in urban areas has more than ever posed a big challenge to the government. While the urban centers have been overcrowded since the conflict period, facilities are never enough, leading consequently to increased instability and crime rate. “We even lack facilities to locate a home in majority of the places, let alone the work of identifying a certain person in a time limit,” said Silwal.
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