12 July 2004	Monday	23 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

ISLAMABAD, July 11: The interior ministry has detected issuance of computerized national identity cards (CNICs) to non- Pakistanis and sought explanation from the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) in this regard , sources in the interior ministry told Dawn on Sunday.

The sources said the Nadra with its new innovation of computerised national identity cards (CNICs) had failed to check such illegal practices. They said it had been detected that CNICs were also being issued to Afghan nationals living in various parts of the country.

The sources said the passport and immigration department, which was also an ally department of the interior ministry like Nadra, had recently detected that CNICs had been issued to 50 Afghan nationals. These cards were submitted to the passport authorities for issuance of fresh passports, they said.

The passport and immigration department, after a through inquiry, confirmed that the holders of these cards were Afghan nationals and somehow they managed to get the CNICs from Nadra.

The passport and immigration departments had also ordered an inquiry into issuance of 150 other CNICs submitted for the issuance of passports. Previously, when the registration authority issued manual national identity cards, there was a general complaint that cards were also being issued to the foreigners.

The National Database and Registration Authority had claimed a number of times in the past that its database was very secure and transparent and had no room for any illegality.

Interior Minister Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat had also claimed that CNICs were made after a thorough investigation about the applicants and there was no possibility of any illegality in it.

He was of the view that the manual national identity cards had lost their credibility and value in the international world, therefore, there was need for CNICs to restore the worth of this document.

Meanwhile, the record of the interior ministry showed that a total of 11 cases of issuance of passports from a regional passport office, Bahawalpur, on tampered identity cards had been detected.

These tampered identity cards are: 361-65-143651, 359-66- 478467, 359-66-597842, 358-67-405284, 359-66-327599, 361-66- 213212, 358-66-896593, 358-71-785277, 358-67-878610, 359-62- 210891 and 346-80-337380.

According to a break-up of the issued CNICs, 21.426 million cards have so far been issued in Punjab, 8.082 million in Sindh, 5.370 million in NWFP, 0.524 million in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, 1.275 million in Balochistan, 1.004 million in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, 0.248 million in Northern Areas and 0.454 million in Islamabad.