KARACHI, April 20: The National Database Registration Authority (Nadra) has received 71,906 applications during the past five months at its swift centres, of which 42,723 have been processed and delivered.

An official of the Nadra swift registration centres (NSRC) said in a statement that out of the 71,906 applications, 44,287 had been received back from the applicants and cleared for further processing by the district registration officer concerned; 968 had been blocked due to security checks and 42,723 had been processed and delivered.

The official said that Nadra had set up model Swift Registration Centres in Rawalpindi, Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar; it would take Nadra some time to set up more centres to cover all the country. He added that an appointment facility was also available at the centres that had been set up for senior citizens and families.

Referring to the complaints that many family are not getting their CNICs, although they have submitted all the forms of family members at the a same time, he said once the applications were attested and submitted, they were sent to the DRO where authenticity of particulars was re-verified. As soon as the forms were verified, they were dispatched for processing to the NSRC and subsequently to the national data warehouse for further processing.

For prompt processing, he explained, applications received from the DRO were dispatched immediately, which might result in applications of a family being processed separately.

This in turn, resulted in applicants receiving CNICs belonging to the same family at separate dates; however, the family number remained consistent. In case the vital registration procedures were not followed by any individual and an individual’s record was not found at the DRO, the application was marked suspect and withheld for further investigation. This was a procedure Nadra pursued purely for consideration of legitimacy, he added.

About the expiry of CNICs, the country manager NSRC, Syed Shayan Kamal, said the data warehouse allotted the new CNIC numbers and expiry dates of CNICs. The expiry of CNICs depended on the age of the applicant, which was based on the logic of ease of visual identification and had been implemented for facilitating both the authorities and the cardholder.

“Individuals undergo physical change with age. At the time of renewal, the applicant requires only a new photograph and any amendment to personal information as might be required. The remainder of the information is retrieved from the data warehouse and the new CNIC can be printed issued,” he said.

The country manager said Nadra printed 100,000 cards a day and the distribution, which was an issue, was being resolved with the cooperation of the Pakistan Post and TCS. He said urgent CNICs were being delivered by TCS, whereas normal cards were being delivered via the Pakistan Postal Service.

Referring to the case of Aizaz Ahmed and his wife Nasreen Zehra, who submitted their forms one and a half months back at the Swift Centre, Awami Markaz in Karachi, the official said that Nadra had investigated the case, along with the other similar cases, and were developing procedures to ensure that those delays did not become a source of irritation to the public, and the appropriate reply was communicated to the applicants.

He maintained that Nadra was a public service organization and one of its purpose was to provide the citizens of the country with an identification document that represented them and Pakistan all over the world. If Nadra were in the business of merely printing NICs for raising funds, then the whole practice of establishing numerous layers of security checks would be futile.

“It is our practice and commitment to provide bona fide citizens the facility of CNICs and we take a very strong stand against issuing CNICs to illegal applicants. Paying an urgent fee is not the sole determinant for an individual to receive a CNIC, the receipt of which is solely dependent on the verification of the applicant’s identity,” he said.