Automated NICs from this month
By Kurulu Kariyakarawana
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Commissioner General
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One of the state offices that was hardly affected over a period of
time and new technology was the Registration of Persons Department
(RPD). Popularly known as the NIC office, RPD is doing one of the most
important and crucial tasks in the country that deals with its citizens'
identity. Since its establishment in 1972 to the present day the
operations of the department have only been done manually such as
maintaining records of millions of registered people, which was confined
to bundles of papers stacked in a room.
In a period when an employee identity card of a private company bears
a magnetic barcode and the state driving license with an engraved
electronic chip that holds the personal details of a person, the
country's National Identity Card, the most important identification
document one could possess, is issued handwritten by a clerk with the
photo manually pasted on the card using glue. The amount of time spent
to issue a card as well as the amount of mistakes generated in recording
wrong details in mistaken identities was inevitable in this difficult
and long process where space for forgery was ample.
History
For the first time in the country's history the RPD is going to
convert its old manual handling process into an automated system which
will be ready to issue its first printed NIC by the end of this month.
The new NIC holds novel features such as the personal details including
the name, address, date of birth and occupation of an individual printed
on the back of the card instead of the old handwritten method. The
photograph will also be printed on the front of the card instead of
being pasted along with the personal registration number on top of it
and the issued date, which was earlier keyed using a typewriter. The
signature of the Commissioner General of the Registration of Persons
that appears on the bottom front of the card that was marked using a
signature stamp will also be printed on the card.
Moreover there will be a significant addition to the language policy
followed by the authorities for decades. The NIC which was issued in
Sinhala language for over four decades in a mix racial country of
Sinhalese and Tamils will be issued in bilingual in the future. This
policy came into effect since last year where the NIC of a Tamil
national was issued in both Sinhala and Tamil languages whereas the NIC
of a Sinhala national was issued in Sinhalese only. But according to the
new system, the NICs of all personnel will be issued bilingual in clear
printed font.
The next most important feature about the new automated system was to
create a computerised database to record personal details instead
maintaining stacks of paper proof or individual applications. The entire
system of handling an application received by the department will be
converted into a well monitored system until the issuance of the NIC
with all the data computerised. Once the application form is received it
will be date stamped. A group of data entry operators will then manually
enter the details of the individual application form to the system
including the name and the serial number of the form. Then the form
which is in a folded paper will be cut into single pages to make it easy
to scan. The application form will then be scanned through an image
scanner to get the image rendered into the system.
Applications
Generally the department receives about 2,000 to 4,000 applications a
day. Three data entry operators are trained by now to handle about 1,500
forms each per day. Once the application is scanned including the
supporting documents such as the Birth Certificate, a second batch of
staff would manually check whether they are in line with the
requirement, and proper authentication. Once this is done the
computerised application will be sent to four Assistant Commissioners of
the department who would check again and grant the approval to issue the
person an NIC. They have the sole authority to decide whether to or not
to issue the NIC concerning the application and the supporting
documents.
Once the application is authorised another group of data entry
operators will enter the name, sex, date of birth, address and the
occupation to the system. The second group will re-enter these details
to avoid shortcomings. The personal data is normally entered in English
which will be transliterated in Sinhala and Tamil by the respective
management assistants. A third group will match these date previously
entered by the two groups. All this was done manually earlier which will
be done using computers now. Once the matching operation is completed
the person will be registered by a number. The RPD has a unique way of
registering people with a uniquely generated number through a special
formula. Since the department was not advanced enough in the beginning
of the seventies with no computer at hand they had to seek the
assistance of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka who facilitated them with a
computerised mathematical formula that created a unique number to each
and every registered person.
Once the number is given the application will go to printing through
the system. Once the NIC is printed on the special security proof paper
it will be sent to Quality Controllers who would then examine for any
typos, printing mistakes etc. They check whether the personal details
are correctly printed along with the registration number and
commissioner's signature on it. Once it is approved the card will be
laminated and the edges would be cut to give a finishing. This of course
has to be done manually using a lamination machine and a cutter. Once
this part is completed the card will be scanned again to put into the
system. When this is done the card will be sent to the applicant along
with whatever the supporting documents given with the application. The
computerised application will remain in a sophisticated database that
can be reviewed at any time with the touch of a button. And the
application will be sent to a record room.
Application
However this too could be averted in the future where the department
can handle an application without using the paper. In future the
applicants could submit their applications to the Divisional
Secretariats where they will be scanned and only the scanned documents
are sent to the department. This way the NIC issuance can be made paper
free and the enormous cost of preserving old documents with a limited
space is unnecessary.
Currently the department is faced with a problem of shortage of
adequate Tamil Management Assistants. There are only 18 Tamil Management
Assistants to transliterate whereas the department has requested for 75
officers. But this is yet to be fulfilled by the Department of Public
Administration.
Explaining about this new automated card Commissioner General of
Registration of Persons Department R M S Sarathkumara told the Sunday
Observer that this was a requirement felt for a long time. To issue a
clear printed card to the public except for the hand written old
fashioned one was a great achievement in terms of creating a
computerised database as well. This was not possible for a long time due
to the old ways and means adopted by this department notorious for
incompetency and inefficiency for decades. For years the past heads of
department had not taken correct decisions for it to remain in a sorry
state like this. It has become a place where the people were turned away
for the slightest reason which could have been sorted out easily.
Many allegations were made against the staff who had solicit bribes
to issue a simple NIC. And many rackets were reported where the identity
card was being forged. There had been no good governance in this
department for decades ultimately making its staff to miss their duties
and eventually not to render a quality service. It is difficult to
change the negative lethargic attitudes of the staff over night, but I'm
doing my best to bring the department to a higher standard.
Efficiency
With this new system I have installed Close Circuit Television
cameras in the department premises to monitor the efficiency of the
staff. There are about 36 CCTV cameras operating presently and I don't
expect the staff to adhere to them and change of attitude immediately
but I have given them two months to prepare themselves to the system.
The cameras were installed in December and from February I will
monitor them and take necessary action against those who do not comply
with the department rules and regulations.
With the issuance of the new automated card, work will improve within
the department. The automated card will come in line with the first
phase of the ENIC Project, the Electronic National Identity Card project
which is currently underway, and it will be put into practice by end of
2015, the Commissioner General said.
To meet a target of one million cards a year the department has to
issue approximately 4,000 cards a day which is a miracle to achieve with
the amount of resources and staff at hand. The department could produce
the mentioned amount if a full staff work with no hindrance from machine
breakdowns.
The benefits of the advancements in technology was never granted to
this vital state department until now which had run in a pathetic
condition for ages. But with the new automated NIC, everything will fall
into place to render a fine service, Sarathkumara said. |
