National IDs issued without relevant law

Kathmandu, August 8

The government has started printing and distributing national identity cards without introducing a law, sowing doubts about safety of data collected from the public, while giving leeway to authorities to bypass public procurement rules.

The home ministry had registered the National Identity Card and Civil Registration Bill in the Parliament Secretariat on January 5. The bill was sent to the parliamentary State Affairs and Good Governance Committee for clause-wise discussion on February 3.

“The bill has been put on hold in the parliamentary committee since then, as it is not clear on many issues, such as data protection, and leakage of private information of people and businesspersons could threaten national security,” Dilendra Prasad Badu, opposition Nepali Congress lawmaker and shadow home minister, told the House of Representatives today.

“Even in the absence of the legislation, the Department of National ID and Civil Registration under the Ministry of Home Affairs has started distributing national ID cards,” said Badu, asking, “How can the government do this without enforcing a law?”

Badu was referring to the distribution of national ID cards in Panchthar district and to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and his wife Radhika Shakya. “I heard those cards have defects as well,” said Badu.

The National Identity Card Project was launched in 2008 with the support of the Asian Development Bank. The purpose of the project is to provide biometric national ID cards to the public for which the government must collect personal data of citizens, such as name, date of birth, address, bank account details, telephone number and occupation. The government intends to use these data for several purposes, including keeping tabs on criminals and preventing people from changing their dates of birth and other crucial information for personal benefit.

Since the government does not have a law on national ID cards, it is relying on Cabinet decisions to perform most of the tasks, including procurement, according to Ministry of Home Affairs Spokesperson Ram Krishna Subedi.

“It is illegal to take decisions in the absence of appropriate law,” said Ram Narayan Bidari, a lawmaker of the ruling Nepal Communist Party and a legal expert, who heads the parliamentary Delegated Legislation and Government Assurance Committee. “Even the Cabinet should take decisions by referring to laws.”

Recently, the government awarded a contract of Rs 1.75 billion to a French company in the middle of the night to print national ID cards, according to NC lawmaker Badu. “The possibility of financial irregularity in this deal cannot be ruled out,” said Badu, asking the government to set up a committee to probe the matter.