Govt cancels tender called for nat’l ID card project
KATHMANDU, DEC 11 -
The government has scrapped the bidding process of the much-touted national identity card project after finding a clear conflict of interest between the bidder and the consultant that prepared the documents.
Through the project, the government had planned to distribute 100,000 biometric identity cards to Nepali citizens by 2014. The government had entered into an agreement of US$8 million in grant with the Asian Development Bank to execute the pilot project. The amount was to be used to provide to the people a trusted and secure method of national identification, facilitate effective delivery of government services, to develop infrastructure required for National ID card issuance, and to create a national database of all Nepali citizens.
The biometric ID cards would have had personal information such as family name, given name, address, date of birth, sex, father’s name, mother’s name, photo and four fingerprints (both thumbs and two index fingers). The bidding process was scrapped after the ADB found a conflict of interest between two international firms, which were selected for the final financial evaluation, and the consultant, who prepared the tender document of the entire project. In a letter to the Ministry of Finance a week ago, the ADB said it will not support the bidding process, while it asked the Nepali side to scrap it.
Two firms—SAFRAN Morpho of France and Gemalto of Finland—had been selected after a rigorous technical evaluation and were competing for the final financial evaluation.
The ADB found that a former employee of Gemalto had prepared the tender document. Under the aegis of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the National ID Management Centre had on April 29 invited an international bid for executing the pilot project. Nine international firms were in the fray for the project.
A formal announcement of the decision to scrap the bidding process is awaited, officials said. Informed sources at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the card project office and the ADB confirmed that the bidding process has been scrapped and negotiations with the ADB are under way to re-invite the bids.
“... we (ADB) need to refrain from disclosing the details until the government announces it. In any event, this is an important initiative of the government and we hope to continue our support,” a senior ADB official said. “We don’t have an option, but to go for fresh bidding,” Chief Secretary Lilamani Poudel said.
The government has scrapped the bidding process of the much-touted national identity card project after finding a clear conflict of interest between the bidder and the consultant that prepared the documents.
Through the project, the government had planned to distribute 100,000 biometric identity cards to Nepali citizens by 2014. The government had entered into an agreement of US$8 million in grant with the Asian Development Bank to execute the pilot project. The amount was to be used to provide to the people a trusted and secure method of national identification, facilitate effective delivery of government services, to develop infrastructure required for National ID card issuance, and to create a national database of all Nepali citizens.
The biometric ID cards would have had personal information such as family name, given name, address, date of birth, sex, father’s name, mother’s name, photo and four fingerprints (both thumbs and two index fingers). The bidding process was scrapped after the ADB found a conflict of interest between two international firms, which were selected for the final financial evaluation, and the consultant, who prepared the tender document of the entire project. In a letter to the Ministry of Finance a week ago, the ADB said it will not support the bidding process, while it asked the Nepali side to scrap it.
Two firms—SAFRAN Morpho of France and Gemalto of Finland—had been selected after a rigorous technical evaluation and were competing for the final financial evaluation.
The ADB found that a former employee of Gemalto had prepared the tender document. Under the aegis of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the National ID Management Centre had on April 29 invited an international bid for executing the pilot project. Nine international firms were in the fray for the project.
A formal announcement of the decision to scrap the bidding process is awaited, officials said. Informed sources at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the card project office and the ADB confirmed that the bidding process has been scrapped and negotiations with the ADB are under way to re-invite the bids.
“... we (ADB) need to refrain from disclosing the details until the government announces it. In any event, this is an important initiative of the government and we hope to continue our support,” a senior ADB official said. “We don’t have an option, but to go for fresh bidding,” Chief Secretary Lilamani Poudel said.
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