ISLAMABAD, Nov 14: The government will strictly adhere to the Dec 31, 2003, deadline after which old identity cards will expire and all identification requirements will take place on the basis of computerized national identity cards issued by Nadra.

A National Database Registration Authority (Nadra) spokesman said that the government had extended the deadline twice in the past considering problems being faced by the applicants but this time Dec 31 deadline will be followed in letter and in spirit.

The old national identity cards would not be valid for any identification purposes from Jan 1, 2004, like getting new passport, opening a bank account, getting connections for utilities such as gas, electricity, and telephone.

Already, passports are now being issued to only computerized national identity card holders countrywide and the government has also made it incumbent upon intending hajis to get CNICs.

Nadra has launched a concerted media campaign to highlight the importance of having the computerized national document and has been appealing to the public to have their cards issued before the Dec 31 deadline.

The National Database Registration Authority has issued 31,386,112 ID cards till Nov 1 against 32,376,778 applications it received, the spokesman said. —APP