Nepal Digital ID to be Assigned at Birth

In a significant move toward digital identity management, the Nepalese government has commenced assigning national ID numbers to children during birth registration, aimed at maintaining a comprehensive database of citizens from early childhood.

The Department of National ID and Civil Registration has initiated the issuance of the numbers, laying the groundwork for broader adoption of national identity cards, which are yet to be made mandatory, but which could eventually replace the citizen certificates currently required to access government services.

Mukesh Kumar Keshar, Director at the Department of National ID and Civil Registration, disclosed that, ‘we have informally provided national ID numbers to individuals during birth registration nationwide over the past two months, with approximately 2,000 people receiving such numbers daily.’ The department plans to formally launch this initiative in the coming weeks, emphasising the facilitation of government document acquisition, including national IDs, for individuals from early childhood.