KATHMANDU, April 16: Making the national identity card mandatory for social security allowances has led to significant savings in the state treasury.
The Department of National ID and Civil Registration claims that enforcing the national ID requirement has saved nearly Rs 5 billion annually.
According to Tulsi Prasad Dahal, director of administration, planning, monitoring and coordination and also the department’s information officer, the number of people receiving duplicate allowances has decreased after the policy was implemented. This has resulted in annual savings of nearly Rs 5 billion.
He said that while around 200,000 new beneficiaries were expected to be added each year during annual data updates, the trend has reversed, with nearly 200,000 beneficiaries decreasing instead. As the number of beneficiaries declined, the amount allocated to them has also been reduced, leading to annual savings of about Rs 5 billion.
“After making the ID mandatory, those receiving duplicate allowances were eliminated. This has saved the state nearly Rs 5 billion annually,” he said. “Earlier, the number of beneficiaries used to increase by 200,000 to 250,000 each year. But after the ID requirement, instead of increasing, the number has been decreasing by around 200,000 annually.”
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He added that the ID system has made the allowance distribution process more transparent, systematic and efficient.
According to the department, the mandatory ID has helped control the practice of receiving duplicate benefits from the state treasury and ensured that individuals holding public office or receiving government salaries or pensions are no longer eligible for such allowances.
In the current fiscal year, the government is providing social security allowances to 3,669,641 individuals under eight categories, including senior citizens, single women, persons with disabilities, endangered communities, child nutrition, care for those unable to care for themselves, economically disadvantaged citizens, and other vulnerable groups.
The government has allocated Rs 109 billion for these programs through the budget.
“For example, earlier a single individual was receiving allowances from Panchthar, Jhapa, Bhaktapur, Mustang and Kaski. Some were also receiving benefits from both their place of birth registration and migration location. But after making the national ID mandatory, such practices have ended,” he said. “In another case, a woman was found receiving both single woman and senior citizen allowances. This system has ended such duplication.”
Although the national ID was initially made mandatory for receiving social security allowances from July 16, 2024, the decision was revised and implemented from January 14, 2025.
The national ID distribution system, which began in 2019, has now been integrated into 13 public services, including social security allowances. The department believes this has helped reduce misuse and irregularities across sectors.
The government has already implemented the “Social Security Allowance Distribution Procedure, 2025” to ensure a transparent, efficient and accessible system.
With the implementation of the procedure, issues such as duplicate payments, payments made in the name of deceased individuals, and complicated processes to receive allowances have been resolved, Dahal said.
The department stated that irregularities and distortions in allowance distribution have been addressed, making the system more accessible, efficient and transparent.
