TODAY I took my 82- year- old mother to get her Computerised National ID Card (CNIC) renewed. The previous ID card had expired and was technically invalid. The last one had been issued a decade ago.
I believe ID cards being issued to those above 70 years of age need not be renewed. Unfortunately that rule was made before she got her last ID card. Outside the Nadra office in F8, there were long queues to get tokens for the ‘normal’ and ‘fast track channels.’ Inside a lot of people were waiting in different states of resignation to be photographed, fingerprinted and for having their personal data entered.
The staff was as polite as one can possibly be, while handling so many people, waiting for their turns.
Among the waiting crowd were people of all ages – ranging from infants in their mother’s laps to octogenarians like my mother. I spied one bent old woman, who appeared to be in her 90s. Her attendant assured her that this time her card would be ‘ta hayat’ (lifelong).
At long last my mother’s token number was called and we started with the photograph. There was some problem as the biometrics machine found it difficult to read my mother’s fingerprints.
As we waited for the data entry, power went out. The generator kicked in but 20 minutes later it ran out of fuel. There was nothing to do but wait. Forty minutes later power was restored and business slowly resumed. At long last the data about my mother was rechecked and a printout issued.
As I triumphantly got hold of the precious paper, I was informed that I had to get the form attested to by a government officer and deposit it again in the office and then wait for the card to be made – seven days for fast track and 30 days standard time.
Why on earth should a government officer verify data about a woman who had already been registered with Nadra? Mr Modi, the Indian prime minister, has already done away with this archaic and antiquated requirement. I strongly feel that having a CNIC renewed should be done online.
Dr Tughral Yamin
Islamabad
Published in Dawn, January 1st, 2015