Staff Reporter:
Officials and employees of the Election Commission (EC) will go on a three-hour work abstention daily from 19 March, demanding cancellation of the move to transfer NID operation to a separate registration entity.
Convener of Bangladesh Election Commission Officers Association Mohammad Monir Hossain on Thursday announced the programme from a human chain formed in front of Nirbachon Bhaban in the capital, calling for the NID operations to remain under the EC’s authority.
The EC staff will observe the work abstention (titled “Operation Halt”) from 9am to 12 pm (everyday) from Wednesday (March 19) at the EC secretariat and its other offices throughout the country.
The EC staff formed human chains under the banner “Stand for NID” at the EC Secretariat and its regional offices across the country on Thursday to meet their demand.
“The Election Commission is the custodian of all the personal information of the voters. So, the NID should remain under the authority of the Election Commission…. We are giving time until next Tuesday (18 March) to take visible step in this regard (to cancel the move),” he said.
Monir Hossain, a deputy secretary at the EC Secretariat, said, “If this move is not canceled, we will go on work abstention from 9am to 12pm from Wednesday next (19 March).”
On 5 March, the EC staff submitted a memorandum to the Chief Election Commissioner demanding visible steps from the EC and the government to cancel this initiative.
Later, the EC sent a letter to the government on 9 March arguing to keep the NID services under its authority,
The current government has initiated the fresh move to bring a number of civic services, including birth registration and national identity registration services, under a single entity named the “Civil Registration Commission,” causing frustrations among the EC’s officials and employees.
On 3 March, a meeting of the inter-ministerial committee was held in the Cabinet Division to review the draft of the “Civil Registration (Commission) Ordinance, 2025.”
A representative from the EC Secretariat was also present at the additional secretary-level meeting.
In 2023, the previous Awami League government enacted the National Identity Registration Act, 2023 to transfer the national identity registration operation from the Election Commission to the Security Services Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
