The government has backtracked on its decision to make the National Identity Card compulsory for social security allowance.

A Cabinet meeting on Thursday decided to direct the Ministry of Home Affairs not to implement the decision for now, according to Minister for Communications and Information Technology Rekha Sharma, who is also the government’s spokesperson.

“The meeting directed the Home Ministry to take the initiative for not making National Identity Card mandatory for social security allowance for now, considering the difficulties faced by citizens to get the ID card due to rain, floods and landslides in various parts of the country,” said Minister Sharma after the meeting.

The Ministry of Home Affairs had issued a notice on June 13 making the card compulsory for people with disabilities, the elderly, and single women who receive social security allowances from mid-July. The government was criticised for making the National ID mandatory to get social security allowances without making preparations necessary for that.

The home ministry had announced that the rule will be enforced in 28 districts starting in the new fiscal year when social security allowances are distributed. The notice was based on the June 6 Cabinet decision, according to the National ID and Civil Registration Department of the home ministry.

The National Identity Card is a federal identity issued by the Department of National Identity Card and Civil Registration. It has a unique number assigned to each person and can be obtained by Nepali citizens based on their biometric and demographic data. The card features a unique number, photo, personal information, and fingerprints of the bearer.

The government officially launched the national identity card distribution campaign in 2018 by presenting a card to a 101-year-old woman in Panchthar district and to government employees at Singha Durbar. It announced plans to digitally integrate the driving licence, vehicle ownership certificate, banking services, tax payment system, voter ID card, and social security system, among other things, into the National Identity Card.

Thursday’s Cabinet meeting also decided to extend the term of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Commission on Investigation of Enforced Disappeared Persons until mid-July 2025. Minister Sharma said the decision for the terms extension was taken using the authority to remove difficulties.

The two commissions have been lying defunct since July last year after the government decided to extend the terms of the commissions without appointing their chairs and members.