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KARACHI, Nov 16: The National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) has caught some employees who were involved in the racket of preparing fake computerised national identity cards.
Dawn has learnt that these Nadra employees, most of whom were data entry operators, were caught because of the technology being used at the organisation. Nadra chief Brigadier (retd) Saleem Moeen confirmed that the employees had tried to put their own fingerprints on other people’s cards.
However, since their prints were already registered on the database, the overlap was detected. “Fewer than a hundred employees who were found to have been involved in this racket have been caught, sacked and cases have been registered against them,” said Mr Moeen from Islamabad. “They face a 10-year sentence under the new laws.”
However, sources told Dawn that every day, between 250 and 300 people across the country attempt to prepare fake CNICs and so far over a 100,000 such attempts had been detected. They maintained that Nadra took a soft approach towards the people found to have been involved in their racket.
Mr Moeen told Dawn almost all the people who attempt to get fake CNICs apply and pay the fee for urgent processing. When the computers detect that they already have cards, the new ones are blocked. When these people come to collect the cards, they are informed that their cards have been blocked and they leave quietly, without attempting to have the block removed. “Earlier, the penalties were very low so people did not fear the law much,” said the Nadra chief. “The new law increases the penalties and extends the prison sentence, which acts as a better deterrent.”
Passport dept in arrears
Talking about Nadra’s success, Mr Moeen said that over 60 million CNICS had been issued and the database included over 90 million people, 30 million of them children. Of the over 6,000 union councils of the country, over 4,600 had been linked with the Nadra database and births in these areas were being registered, he said, adding that the remaining union councils would also be linked up soon. Mr Moeen conceded that in areas such as FATA, women were not allowed to get CNICs but maintained that efforts were under way to improve the situation.
Referring to Karachi, Mr Moeen said that although it is the country’s largest city and has relatively high literacy rates, it agreed to be linked up very late. Currently, 103 of the city’s 178 union councils have been linked up to register births. However, he pointed out that only 215 births had been registered from all the linked up union councils, and the low number suggests that everybody is not yet coming forward to report a birth.
Mr Moeen emphasised that Nadra offered the facility of having the identity of any person confirmed for a nominal rate of Rs50. “This way, people buying property, vehicles or entering into any sort of agreement can ensure that the other party is giving the correct identity,” he said. He said that banks and other concerns, who use this facility to confirm the identity of applicants, pay the fee promptly but the arrears in this regard of the passport department had crossed the Rs200 million mark. The Nadra chief added that some other services, such as inexpensive anti-theft devices for vehicles, had also been developed by his organisation. “The relevant government departments are being approached and hopefully, these services will be implemented soon,” he concluded.
