Nine years on, Smart NID yet to reach all Bangladeshis

Nine years after Bangladesh launched the Smart National Identity Card project, the Election Commission (EC) is still far from delivering cards to all citizens. When the Smart NID distribution began, the target was to reach every citizen within just over a year. Nearly eight years after that deadline, the constitutional body remains unable to say when the goal will finally be met. For much of this time, progress has been slowed by shortages of blank Smart Cards. Now, the EC is moving to purchase more than 23.6 million blank cards to speed up printing and distribution. Later this month, an election commissioner and the project director will travel to France for pre-shipment quality inspection. If all goes well, the EC...