KARACHI, May 21: The National Database Registration Authority on Sunday said that they had started issuing letters to those computerized cardholders, whose family tree was incomplete.

The spokesman for Nadra, without disclosing the number of such cardholders, said that the authority had been seeking data information about individuals for its own requirement, and that it had nothing to do with opening an account with a bank, obtaining a cellphone connection, or applying for a new passport.

He said that it had been decided in a meeting between the chairman Nadra and the director general, Immigration and Passports, that there would be no hindrance in issuing passports to people without family tree.

However, they would be asked to get their records updated in Nadra's database by submitting the CNIC numbers of their parents or relatives to establish a family linkage to make Nadra's database even more authentic.

He said that the Identity Advice System of the Nadra only gave information about the credibility and genuineness of applicants to the assistant directors, Immigration and Passports, who could then decide by the applicant’s appearance if he was a genuine citizen and if so a passport could be issued without doubt.

Sources in the Immigration and Passports department, however, said that it was the Nadra's responsibility to issue CNICs to genuine applicants, but added the authority wanted to shift its responsibility to the former for judging if an applicant was a genuine citizen or not.

The Nadra's spokesman dispelled the impression and said that Nadra had not shifted the responsibility.

It was the duty of Nadra to issue CNICs to genuine citizens and every cardholder must be issued a passport, he said.

Referring to the news item regarding Ms Kibria-ee-Fatima, he said that a CNIC card was issued to her within 8-10 days but she was still waiting for a passport after submitting a fresh application using here new CNIC, which clearly showed that it was not Nadra's fault.