Nadra lodges 2,818 FIRs against illegal applicants
By Ihtasham ul Haque
ISLAMABAD, Jan 11: Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat said here on Saturday that Pakistan had faced humiliation at the hands of those who had obtained fake Pakistani identity cards and used Pakistani passports during the current global drive against terrorism.
“This will be stopped and it is good to know that Nadra has already identified some illegal applicants against whom cases have been registered,” he stated.
He was informed during a presentation at Nadra headquarters on Saturday that the organization had lodged over 2,818 FIRs against illegal applicants and around 1,031 case had been registered against those who attested applications of illegal applicants.
He asked Nadra to speed up its efforts to record data of citizens and provide them computerized national identity cards.
“In the current global scenario, making of national database has become more essential than ever before,” he remarked.
After being briefed at the Nadra headquarters about the first Computerised Database initiative of the country, the minister said that provision of CNICs to the citizens and completion of authentic database had become imperative in the backdrop of current global security environment.
“This would not only help the authorities identify illegal immigrants but also minimize the crime rate and curb the fake passports menace, which brings bad name to Pakistan”.
According to an official announcement, he said that by using the latest technology for profiling citizens, the government would not only be able to identify essential needs of particular areas but it will also be helpful in human resource management and good governance.
Nadra management has been striving to provide computerised ID cards to the people of Pakistan but still there is a long way to go, he noted.
He asked the Nadra authorities to ensure timely delivery of CNICs to the applicants and set up more swift registration centres across the country, especially in remote areas.
The interior minister emphasized that privacy of citizens’ personal information was just as important as accuracy and authenticity of the database. Under no circumstances any of these should be compromised, he said, adding all the legal aspects of privacy laws and Nadra ordinance regarding secrecy of citizens’ information must be adhered to.
Earlier, Brig (retired) Saleem Ahmed Moeen, Chairman Nadra, briefed the minister on the organization’s ongoing projects.
He said delivery of CNICs was in full swing and, so far, approximately 22.40 million cards had been produced.
“Nadra is producing approximately 100,000 cards per day at the optimum planned capacity. The distribution of the cards is being done through Pakistan Post Office and Nadra representatives,” he said.
The urgent cards are also being delivered through TCS, the chairman said. This project, he said, also included creation of a database which already has data of over 42 million people.
Nadra has lodged over 2,818 FIRs against illegal applicants and around 1,031 cases have been registered against those who attested applications of illegal applicants, he said.
There are around 1,60,000 cases of old NICs bearing same numbers and other details. The figure goes up to 11 card holders bearing same numbers but different names.
Focusing on database and data warehouse project, Nadra chief said that this project had been commissioned and all Nadra regional HQs were linked on fibre optics with a VSAT backup support.
