Over 15,000 National Identity Cards have been left uncollected at the District Administration Office in Baglung after the service seekers failed to pick them up. According to Ram Prasad Upadhyaya, head of the administration branch at the district office, most individuals who had filled out the forms for the cards have since left for foreign countries, resulting in the backlog.

Although around 200 people visit the office daily for new identity cards, only a small number of them come to collect the prepared cards. Upadhyaya said that only between 20 to 50 individuals visit daily to pick up their cards, leading to the pile-up.

The district office has prepared a total of 28,885 national identity cards to this date, with only 13,047 being collected so far. The remaining 15,838 cards are still waiting to be picked up.

Upadhyaya explained that the process requires individuals to come in person for biometric verification, which has contributed to the low collection rate. To help alleviate the issue, the District Administration Office plans to set up a camp in the Galkot Municipality to distribute the remaining cards. However, the accumulation of uncollected cards has led to storage problems.

Following the Supreme Court's decision to revoke a petition against the national identity cards, the government has made it mandatory to use the national identity card for all official purposes. The card, which includes biometric and personal details, will serve as a digital identification tool in line with international standards. It will feature fingerprints, personal information, and biometric data, and will replace the need to carry multiple documents like citizenship certificate, driving licence, voter ID, and land ownership paper.

The national identity card will also track all personal events from birth to death and is being systematically organised online by the Department of National Identification and Registration at the centre.