Today, it is widely believed that information is knowledge and that knowledge is power. That means the basis of knowledge is information. The revolution in information technology is a widely discussed topic nowadays. Those days are not far when information will prove itself to be the driving force of the fourth industrial revolution in the future. The more information one has, the more one will be advanced in the battle in the next world. Therefore, in the current global context, the national database has become a very important issue for any state. Bangladesh already has a big repository of citizen information. But it seems, nowadays, that there is no coordination between the data collection process and the database collected by the various agencies and departments of the state.
Recently, the decision to shift the responsibility of collecting and maintaining the information of NID (National Identity) cards from the Election Commission to the Division of Security Services of the Ministry of Home Affairs has come to the fore. As a result, the issue is being debated in the government, administration and political arena as well as in the civil society.
The Election Commission collects voter information and compiles voter lists and, at the same time, issues NIDs to citizens above 18 years. Again, the Registrar General of the Birth and Death Registration Office of the Local Government Department registers and certifies the births and deaths of all citizens. The Cabinet Division coordinates the work of civil registration. Police collect data and maintain criminal records of city dwellers. The statistics department collects and analyses data on various economic and social issues and issues various forecasts.
The government is spending huge amount of money for each of these works. However, the government officials think that it is possible to prevent the waste of government money and time in this work through an integrated management called Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS). In almost all countries of the world, including western countries, birth, death, cause of death, marriage, divorce, adoption – all are included in the CRVS. It is easy to make any kind of administrative decision based on this integrated system.
Experts and administration experts say that, according to the new decision, there will be no change if the responsibility of NID is given to the Home Ministry from the Election Commission. This transfer can only be meaningful if the organisations or departments that work with this information, including the local government, the police, and the statistics department, can be brought under one umbrella. Some say that this responsibility could be given to the Cabinet Division instead of the security services division of the home ministry. The Cabinet Division is under the direct supervision of the prime minister. The responsibility may also be given to the statistics department. But the fact is that the most important thing is to bring the collection of all kinds of data and maintenance under the same umbrella. Only then can a truly effective national database be developed.
The smart NID card now being issued to citizens by the Election Commission contains a total of 32 types of machine-readable information. More than 50 organisations of the country are getting the facility of verifying the identity of citizens from the database. Smart NIDs have also been made mandatory for getting 22 types of national services. On the other hand, it is seen that during various disasters or epidemics, lack of information is an obstacle to the implementation of national programmes. But in these cases, the database of institutions like Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics is not utilised. It is indicative of the inability to use an integrated and effective national database in the country. On the other hand, the question of security of national database or citizens’ information is also vital. This is because too much personal information increases the risk of state surveillance on citizens. As a result, the question of control and security of such national databases is certainly a very important question in today’s world.
