THE basic customer service level at the offices of the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) has been on a decline for some time now. Recently, I had an extremely unpleasant experience at the Nadra executive centre situated at the State Life Building in Hyderabad. On arrival at the centre at 11am, I noticed a lengthy queue of citizens at the token counter, but no token was being issued to anybody.

When I enquired about the issue, the staff at the counter told in a seriously unpleasant tone and manner that the quota for the day had been exhausted. Quota? What was that about? I wondered about the purpose of that lengthy queue in front of the counter. What were they waiting for if the ‘quota’ of tokens had been exhausted already?

I approached the official in charge of the centre, who, too, was helpless, and could not provide any clarification. But he was nice enough to ask me to wait and let him try to have a token issued somehow. I waited for over an hour outside the centre, but nothing happened.

While waiting, I called the Nadra helpline to seek guidance to know why we were being deprived of tokens well within the working hours. The helpline staff, too, could not provide any appropriate answer, and said that such decisions were at the discretion of each centre.

Subsequently, I visited the Nadra website and lodged my complaint for the non-issuance of token. I received a complaint number, which was the only thing that happened promptly. Two days later, an email told me that my complaint had been ‘resolved’. Resolved? Really? What was the resolution? How could my complaint be resolved without anybody contacting, hearing me or issuing a token to settle the grievance?

Such a state of affairs of a public-sector organisation that is heavily funded by taxpayers’ money is unfortunate. In fact, it is one of the major cause behind the brain-drain phenomenon the country is currently suffering from immensely.

Dr N.H. Mirjat
Hyderabad

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2024