Kathmandu — Lawmakers have expressed concerns about the security of the details of the National Identity Card, which has been made mandatory for various services. At a meeting of the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee of the House of Representatives, lawmakers expressed serious concerns about the delays, security challenges, and management weaknesses of the National Identity Card system.

The lawmakers had asked the government questions about who has access to the biometric and other details of millions of citizens that the government has been collecting for identity cards, what to do in case of hacking, and what the security arrangements are. After Yubaraj Kattel, Director General of the National Identity Card and Registration Department, said that it is difficult to retain skilled human resources such as information technology engineers in the department, the lawmakers became even more skeptical about data security.

“It is not good that the department that collects all the details of citizens lacks skilled manpower and resources, and if 10 engineers out of 15 posts leave their jobs and only 5 are working, how can we provide the details with confidence, it was heard that ‘all our details are being taken and put on the identity card and the resources are not enough for this”, said the lawmakers.

Stating that the government built a national identity card system through a French company in 2017 and that 7 billion rupees have been spent on it so far, the question has also been raised as to who is taking responsibility for the security of the citizens’ personal data. ‘The country’s data should not go outside the country, if all the details are kept in one place, what will happen to the country if it is hacked?’ The MPs have said that the government should be committed to ensuring data security when going through the new tender process.

Expressing doubts about the security of the data when contracting a foreign company to establish and operate such sensitive systems, they have said that it cannot be assumed that the data is secure if the contract is given to a foreign company.

They have also said that the government should pay attention to practical aspects such as the process of filling out the form for the identity card and the inconvenience faced by the disabled and that it is difficult to get the card even after two years of filling the form for the identity card, and that citizens in remote areas are facing difficulties due to the card.

Meanwhile, Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak has said that the national identity card has been made mandatory to provide easy and simple services to the people, control crime and effectively implement the issue of money laundering, and that important personal details collected for the national identity card are safe and not misused.

The department has stated that details of more than 16.5 million citizens have been collected through the National Identity Management Information System so far, and more than 6 million identity cards have been printed so far and 5.5 million cards have been sent to various districts.