Such cards will be of use for the state in building a central data system.[break]
Given a favorable situation, it will take at least two years for this scheme to materialize, paving the way for phasing out existing citizenship cards.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MoFA), with technical assistance from the Asia Development Bank (ADB), is making preparations for introducing NID cards in the country while the Law Ministry has already started drafting a separate act to that end.
“We have developed a significant level of clarity about how to launch NID cards at the soonest,” said a high-ranking official at MoFA. “Given necessary laws and technical infrastructure, the project will be accomplished in two years.”
The government had introduced the concept of NID cards in fiscal year 2066/2067 and sanctioned an agreement in principle last February to start work on it.
The government has employed internationally known consultant AS Kohli for the project documentation which is supposed to clear the path for Nepal´s NID cards.
A separate National Identity Card Management Centre has already been established to take charge of ground-work for the project.
MoFA deliberations also include how to secure the central data collected through NID cards, ways of numbering the cards, and security features among other things.
Meanwhile, the government´s erstwhile deliberations to use details collected during the new voter registration could not be applied as experts fear the voter registration might not have been conducted in standard format.
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