July 12, 2008	Saturday	Rajab 8, 1429

LARKANA, July 11: National Database Registration Authority has decided to strengthen and boost its performance in Sindh and Balochistan to provide Computerised National Identity Cards to the people of these areas.

The chairman of NADRA, Brig (retd) Saleem Ahmed Moeen, said this while talking to journalists after inaugurating a NADRA swift centre here on Friday.

He said a very limited number of people in interior of Sindh had obtained computerised identity cards and that is why NADRA had focused on these areas.

He said Sindh and Balochistan lag far behind in terms of the quantity of the issued Computerised National Identity Cards than other provinces.

He said NADRA was now giving more coverage to the far-flung areas of Sindh and 39 mobile vans were working in the province.

In reply to a question, he said, 85 million people in the country had attained the age of 18-year, and they were eligible for CNIC. He said NADRA had issued 67,000,000 computerised identity cards.

He said 21,000,000 people had not obtained CNIC, including 17,000,000 female and 4,000,000 male.

Regarding the lack of facilities at NADRA centres in Sindh, he said, within a few days all basic facilities would be provided at these centres.

He urged the people to get CNIC that were now being issued free of cost.

He said people who do not have CNIC would be left behind in availing many facilities, like the Benazir Bhutto Food programme, health schemes and other welfare schemes.

Responding to another question regarding the fate of former 2800 employees of District Registration Offices in the country, he said “they have no future”.

The government was reluctant to provide required amount to offer them the Golden Hand Shake, he added.

About the issue of duplicate CNIC with different names and incorrect data the NADRA chairman said that so far 90,000 such cases were pending with the authority.

He said NADRA officials, throughout the country, had been instructed to issue tokens to all those people who come to the centres for national identity cards.

He categorically denied that any Afghani or Bengali national had been issued with the CNIC.

Agha Ali Raza Qazlibash, the general manager of NADRA Sindh province was present on the occasion.