Over 62 lakh NID corrections in 6.5 years, nearly 1.5 lakh applications pending

The Election Commission (EC) has made significant progress in processing applications for National Identity (NID) card corrections. While over 62 lakh applications have been settled in the last six and a half years, nearly 1.5 lakh applications are still awaiting final decisions, with the majority falling under the complex 'D' category.

According to a recent report from the EC's NID Wing, a total of 63,78,370 applications for NID corrections were submitted from 2020 to July this year. On average, the commission received about 9.81 lakh applications annually and approximately 2,688 applications per day.

Among these, 62,30,592 applications have been processed, of which 49,35,138 were approved and 12,95,454 were rejected. Currently, 1,47,778 applications remain pending. Applications for NID correction are processed in four main categories. Category 'A' covers spelling corrections of names of the applicant and parents, Category 'A-1' involves addition of name components to align with academic certificates, Category 'B-1' addresses changes in marital status, and Category 'B' deals with photo and signature corrections. Additionally, Category 'C' involves complete name changes of the applicant and parents, while Category 'D' covers fundamental changes to age, date of birth and parental identity.

According to EC officials, applications under Categories 'A', 'B' and 'C' are processed by field-level election officials. However, the most complex Category 'D' applications are handled by the Director General of the NID Wing. Of the currently pending applications, 78,778 fall under this category. Additionally, 19,433 applications are pending in Category 'A', and 25,410 in Category 'B'.

NID Registration Wing Director (Operations) Md Saiful Islam said most pending applications involve complex information corrections. In many cases, the requested changes do not align with reality. For example, after corrections, the age difference between parents and children becomes only 8 to 10 years, which is not acceptable. He also noted that many applicants repeatedly submit similar applications online, increasing the backlog.

He said applications that mention urgent needs such as employment, foreign travel or other critical purposes are prioritised for speedy processing on humanitarian grounds. However, applications based on false information or unreasonable claims are directly rejected.

To address the backlog of complex applications, the Election Commission formed a four-member special committee on July 16. The committee includes one director, one deputy director and two assistant directors. The committee will review complex applications, evaluate necessary evidence, reject applications with insufficient information, recommend improvements to the Card Management System (CMS) and handle NID lock, unlock and rollback issues to expedite the processing.