EC employees suspend ‘operational halt’ protest over NID services

Officials and employees of the Election Commission (EC), who have been opposing the government’s initiative to transfer control of National Identity Card (NID) services away from the commission, have suspended their “operational halt” programme.

The decision was announced by Mohammad Monir Hossain, convenor of the Election Commission Officers' Association, during a press conference held at the EC headquarters in Dhaka’s Agargaon on Tuesday.

The government has decided to establish a separate authority, the “Civil Registration Commission”, to oversee NID services in the country.

At the same time, the Electoral Reform Commission has proposed the creation of an independent statutory body, the “National Citizen Data Commission”, to manage NID data.

In response, employees of the EC voiced strong opposition to the proposals, arguing that the NID services should remain under the commission's purview.

On Mar 13, they staged a demonstration outside election offices across the country.

The protestors have called for the National Identity Registration Act, 2023, to be repealed and the NID system to be reinstated under the EC’s authority.

As part of their protest, they had announced that a work stoppage programme called the “operational halt” would be observed on Mar 19 if their demands were not met.

However, citing reassurances from top officials, including the senior secretary of the EC Secretariat, the officers' association announced that the strike had been put on hold.

“The EC is working on our demands,” Monir said.

“It has formally communicated to the government and the consensus commission that NID services should remain under the EC. Given this, and in consideration of public services, we have decided to suspend our Wednesday’s operational halt programme.”

Meanwhile, SM Asaduzzaman, director general of the Electoral Training Institute, warned that a “complete shutdown” of NID operations could follow if the government does not make tangible progress toward meeting the employees’ demands.

EC officials argue that previous discussions had yielded consensus among stakeholders in favour of keeping voter registration and NID services under the commission’s authority.

A 2023 initiative sought to place NID services under the Ministry of Home Affairs' Security Services Division through legislative action.

However, a subsequent policy shift by the interim government sought to repeal that law and return the NID service to the EC.