The Department of National Registration (DNR) has launched National Identity Card printing services in Gadhdhoo, Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll.
The government in September last year, launched ID card printing services in Villingili, Gaafu Alifu which marked the first time the service was established outside the capital Male’.
The initiative is part of a wider plan to establish the service in every Atoll throughout the country.
DNR said ID card printing services are now available at Gadhdhoo’s Island Council, making it the 15th location outside Malé City offering the service.
“Previously, ID cards were printed in Malé and sent to the island, but now Gadhdhoo residents can print their ID cards within the island,” DNR said.
The DNR was established in 1984 to manage and collect information on residents. The department was renamed from the Identity Card Unit to the Department of National Registration on November 11, 1993. Currently, the DNR operates 174 collection centers and introduced its first online ID card process in 2021 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The portal was updated in March of the previous year to a new DNR online platform. In addition to printing ID cards, the DNR now offers a service to deliver the cards to the local council of the respective island.