The army being an organised force with motivation, mobility and equipment base can do a good job of the assignment. The army alluded to having field level personnel and referred to VGF card distribution in the country with success. It has been revealed that the ID Card would take about ten months to complete the work at a cost of around Tk. 300 crore.

The subject has been discussed elaborately at various discussion meetings and talk shows and there seem to exist a common consensus with regard to the issuance of the ID Card. Such a tool of identification that cannot be tampered with would help the election commission and civil administration in holding a free and fair election.

But what remains to be ensured about the project is to bolster people's confidence in the procedures and steps followed such as going door to door, verification of the given identity, verification of the declared age, etc. We feel that local level organisations, both public and private, could be used for better coordination at the field level. Some non-government organisations have already done some praiseworthy work at the field level in checking data given in the existing voter list. Their experience would come in handy for the army.

What we feel would be ideal before launching the work is to make a similar presentation before the national media and hold briefing sessions with the political parties for obtaining valuable feedback on the issue. There is also the opportunity of seeking the service of the IT experts in the country in making the work as foolproof as possible. If the army can come up with the voter ID cards then that would be doing a noble service to the nation.