KARACHI, Feb 1: The National Database Registration Authority (Nadra) has issued 33 million computerized national identity cards so far. A senior Nadra official told Dawn : "We had announced earlier a cut-off date of Jan 31 after which the old ID cards were to stand expired. However, the Sindh High Court has suspended its implementation on the cut-off date till Feb 12, as a case is being heard".

According to the media advisor of Nadra, 35 million people have so far applied for computerized national identity cards. Thirty-four million cards have been prepared and 33 million cards have already been delivered to the applicants.

One million cards are lying with the Nadra's various distribution centres in the country and are being delivered to the applicants in stages. He said one million cards are either in the process of verification or being printed. As soon as these cards are ready, they will be delivered.

According to the voters' lists prepared by the Pakistan Election Commission for the last general elections, in 2002 there were 72 million voters in the country.

Nadra's claim of issuing 33 million cards shows that it has not achieved the target set for it. Rather, it has not even issued the cards to even half the total adult population of the country. However, about Karachi the Nadra's official claimed: "We can say that 63 to 67 per cent people in Karachi have got the CNICs and many people are visiting our 26 swift centres across the city for submitting their forms".

Visits to several of Nadra's outlets showed that these were not as crowded as expected. Nadra officials admitted that the turnout of people for getting CNICs had decreased considerably. "We had been taking 13,000 to 14,000 forms daily by the end of last year.

"Now this number has dropped to almost a half of that." People appeared to be uninterested in getting cards and got lethargic after a cut-off date was extended by a court order, the officials said.

An applicant at a swift centre near the Sindh assembly said he worked for a private company on I.I. Chundrigar Road. "I could not spare time for submitting a form for myself and my family earlier".

Answering a question, he said: "Actually, my wife is a housewife and my mother also lives with me. They do not require the CNICs urgently. I will take them to a swift centre nearby my residence when I am able to spare some time."

Officials said there were generally three types of people who were not interested in getting CNICs right away. Those who did not require CNICs such as people living in huts and hovels and shantytowns.

The second category comprised those who were slow in submitting application forms as they did not require the CNICs urgently. The third category was of those who lived in Karachi but got their CNICs from their native towns in the upcountry, officials added.