1st center opens to issue e-NICs

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AT-KABUL: The first ever center for issuing electronic ID cards was opened Sunday in the Karta-e-Char neighborhood in west part of the capital.

President Ashraf Ghani started the long-waiting electronic ID cards distribution process last week by receiving his ID cards along with the First Lady, vice president Sarwar Danesh and other senior officials.

The population registration office said that after senior officials got their ID cards, now it distributes electronic ID cards to the people.

Five centers are scheduled to be opened in Kabul city, and the process would cover provinces and districts, according to Ruhollah Ahmadzai, spokesman for the population registration office.

“We are running the process based on our responsibilities. In Kabul, people will receive their ID cards from five centers and after six months, we will open centers in the provincial capitals and finally, our centers will be opened in the districts and other remote areas,” Ahmadzai said.

The process of electronic ID cards distribution would take five years, and so far it has been welcomed by people, according to the registration office.

The process has its opponents with the chief executive Abdullah Abdullah who refused to receive his ID card, saying the process was illegitimate that would cause ethnic rifts and tensions.

The population registration office says the process is lawful and nobody can stop it with his illegal measures.

“We need to focus more on the quality of the process in the first six months. But we need to open more centers after that because Kabul has more population and we have presidential election next year,” said Elham Babor, an information technology analyst.

He said that the  process was “so slow that should be speed up”.