KARACHI, Dec 16: Hundreds, possibly thousands, of people continue to suffer daily owing to mismanagement on the part of Nadra (National Database Registration Authority) in preparation and delivery of the computerized national identity cards (CNICs).

A short survey carried out by Dawn showed that people — ladies and gentlemen both — stand for hours in long queues outside some of Nadra’s 26 swift centres for their CNICs. Most of the people believe that Nadra would not be making and issuing the cards after the cut-off date of Dec 31.

“And Nadra is doing little to dispel this impression,” said an elderly man who had gone to the Awami Markaz centre for his new identity card. While there was a lot of rush and hustle and bustle outside a few Nadra centres — at Awami Markaz, Nazimabad, Gulshan-i-Iqbal and Defence — most of the swift centres in the city either had little rush or wore a deserted look.

This was another example of Nadra’s mismanagement, said a student standing at the counter of the swift centre at Ayesha Manzil. Another applicant, who lived in Landhi but had gone to Awami Markaz, said: “The officials of Nadra have not bothered to properly publicize the locations of these swift centres and most of the people do not know that there are so many centres in Karachi”.

However, the provincial chief of Nadra, Brig Asif Kamal Zeb, would not accept such criticism. “Computerized ID cards will continue to be made even after the cut-off date, that is Dec 31. But, the old ID cards will stand expired from Jan 1, 2004, and people have to produce their new CNICs for any documentation in future,” Brig Zeb told Dawn.

He added that no government institution would accept the old ID cards and private institutions would also gradually do away with these. On the other hand, a number of people interviewed at different Nadra centres were under the impression that something strange would happen after Dec 31.

But people generally believed that it was necessary to get CNICs before the cut-off date. After the date either the cards would not be issued at all or the fee structure would be changed drastically.

An applicant, who was waiting for his turn for more than two hours at the Nazimabad Swift Centre, said: “I want to get CNICs for myself and my entire family. We are all here and waiting for our turn as Nadra has announced a cut-off date for the expiry of old cards.”

He said Nadra had not mentioned in any of its advertisements that the CNICs would continue to be made. “Therefore, we are worried and trying to get CNICs before the cut-off date.”

Brig Zeb told Dawn that the swift centres would work on all Sundays in the month of December. But as Nadra officials again failed to publicize the decision, this correspondent saw little turnout at the swift centres on December 14. Even one centre near Aishah Manzil remained closed.

About the milling crowds at some centres and lesser number of people at others, the people were of the view that they knew well the Awami Markaz and Nazimabad centres, where all types of public transport was easily accessible. They said the other centres were not as widely publicized as they should have been.

Justifying a large crowd at the Awami Markaz centre, Nadra officials said Awami Markaz was a known place and the first swift centre had been established there. People thought that Awami Markaz was accessible and they did not bother to find out about the centre nearest to their homes.

They went straight to Awami Markaz to submit their forms which was a major cause of a large crowd at that centre. The officials said a list of all swift centres had been placed at each and every centre for information.

A massive crowd was also witnessed at the only distribution centre in Awami Markaz, where people were standing in long queues to get their CNICs. Nadra has centralized the delivery of the cards and opened the only distribution centre at Awami Markaz, after it had failed to deliver them to the applicants’ homes, as earlier envisaged.

Initially, the distribution of CNICs was also being made at different swift centres but, according to the Nadra officials, people were searching their cards from one swift centre to the other. After a number of complaints, a centralized distribution centre had been established, they added.

The people, however, were of the view that one distribution centre was not enough to cater to the needs of Karachi’s huge population. “There should be more distribution centres as people from New Karachi, Korangi, Orangi Town and other areas have to come to Awami Markaz for getting their cards,” an applicant, Safdar Ali, said.

Another applicant (bearing card number 515-61-015905), who had applied for a CNIC on an urgent basis on Nov 11, said: “I came from Abu Dhabi on vacation and submitted the form at a swift centre. I came to know that my card was prepared and sent to my home through a courier service.

“I waited for many days and when it was not delivered, I contacted (the Nadra staff) at the helpline number. I was informed that my card was lying with the distribution centre. I came here today (Dec 11) and got the card.”

He added: “The card should have been delivered to my home address within 15 days as I had paid for urgent delivery. But I got the card in a month’s time and normal cards are also being delivered in a month’s time. Then why did Nadra charge an exorbitant fee from me.”

Another man, who identified himself as Miskeen Shah, a resident of Mianwali Colony near Gora Qabristan, said he alongwith his family had applied for CNICs on an urgent basis. However, the cards of his family members were delivered to his home but his own card was not delivered through the courier service.

He contacted the Nadra office and was told that his card was not there. He went again after a gap of a few days to Awami Markaz and got his card.

There were many complaints that some family members had got their cards at their homes while others had to journey to the Awami Markaz to claim the same.

Brig Zeb said Nadra wanted to deliver all the cards being prepared through normal course and received from Islamabad. He said the cards were given to courier service for onward delivery.

The cards were chosen randomly and dispatched. This was the reason why some members of a family had received their cards at home while some cards were left at the distribution centre from where they could be collected, he said. These cards were not made on an urgent basis.

He said according to the census in 1998, Karachi’s population was 9.8 million. “We have calculated today’s population with a growth rate of 2.3 per cent which comes to 11.5 million by August 2002, including about 6.4 million adults.

“Four million adults have applied for the CNICs. Of this number about 150,000 cards are in the process of being made, 250,000 have been prepared but yet to be delivered while 3.6 million have been made and delivered.”

However, in the rural areas, the ratio of applicants was very low as only 23 per cent people had applied for the CNICs.

He asked the people to dial 111-786-100 to know the status of their applications.