Why don’t the beneficiaries’ NID numbers match with those on EC database?

While the government’s cash assistance programme for 50 lakh poor families is supposed to start from today, it is unfortunate to learn that many enlisted national identification (NID) numbers did not match the ones on the Election Commission’s database. The problem was exposed when the government ran a mock test before beginning the fund transfer. Also, as the lists of people eligible for the financial assistance come from the district commissioners’ office in Bangla, matching those names and their NID numbers with the national database, which is in English, has become very difficult, according to a senior finance ministry official. Moreover, it may take a lot of time to transfer the cash to the beneficiaries as most of the enlisted people do not have any MFS (mobile financial services) accounts and the providers are having to open the accounts after matching their NIDs with the EC database.

Amid such a situation, we are not sure how the government would distribute the funds to the poor families within the stipulated time before Eid. What we do not understand is why the mock test was conducted at the very last moment when all the preparations to disburse the money should have already been completed. Had this been done a few weeks earlier, there would have been more time to solve the problem. Now, how the authorities would solve the anomalies in the NIDs remains a question. We also have doubts whether all these poor people actually have NIDs. Also, there could be many who have not even been registered for getting the fund and are left out of the government’s scheme.

While the government has taken a commendable decision to engage MFS operators to send the funds directly to the families’ mobile banking accounts—because it will significantly reduce corruption in the disbursement process—it should also have given focus on removing the pre-existing anomalies in the NIDs. The NID mishap at this point in time is very unfortunate. The government should solve the problem as soon as possible and disburse the cash among the enlisted families. There is no time to waste because people are facing hunger on a daily basis.