5 million electronic ID cards to be distributed

KABUL (Tolo News): The National Statistics and Information Authority will distribute at least 5 million electronic identity cards by the end of the current solar year (which coincides with the beginning of March). The authority said the holders of paper identity cards have no need to verify their identity cards, which is currently a requirement to work in government offices or to obtain a passport.

The head of the authority, Jawed Rasuli, who briefed senators on the electronic identity cards’ distribution, said any government institution that needs information on the identity cards should send a letter to his office to get the required details. “We had set a target of a few million distributed for this year and we plan to distribute five million identity cards by the end of this year,” Rasuli said.

The authority distributes 16,000 electronic identity cards daily. He said that the approval of the paper identity cards had created a problem for the citizens, but it is not needed now. “Institutions should inform us officially about the identity cards so that we can provide them details on time; otherwise, the process of approving the (paper) identity cards is a waste of time and will provide opportunities for misuse and will be of no benefit to the people,” he said.

The senator said people are not happy with the new identity card distribution process. “Our clients want to take the identity cards, but they have complaints about the distribution process of the identity cards,” said Abdul Wahab Irfan, head of the economic commission of the Senate.

“Do you have any plan for ensuring social justice in your working field for the government or you are planning to equalize the administrative units?” asked Mohammad Rahim Hassan Yar, a senator. Figures by the National Statistics and Information Authority shows that Afghanistan has a population of 32 million.