FROM PARLIAMENT: The government will start distribution of smart Identification Card from the very beginning of 2015.

On Saturday, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anisul Huq disclosed the matter in the Parliament while replying to an independent member M Rustom Ali Farazi.

The minister said that each and every citizen will get smart identification cards.

The incumbent government, he continued, has taken a project on ‘Identification System for Enhancing Access to Services (IDEA) under Election Commission’, with a provision to provide smart ID cards to citizens.

Anisul Huq, also minister in-charge of election commission secretariat in parliament affairs, said implementation work of the IDEA project began on July 1, 2011 and is expected to be complete by June 30, 2016.

The minister said the project is being implemented with the assistance of World Bank’s loan.

Under the project, an international tender has been floated for giving smart ID cards to citizens after implementation of the project.

BDST: 1708 HRS, JUNE 28, 2014