ISLAMABAD: Minister for Interior Rana Sanaullah on Thursday launched the Nadra biker service for carrying out processes of CNIC renewal and modification at the doorsteps of applicants.

During his visit to the Nadra headquarters, the authority’s chairman Tariq Malik briefed the minister about its operations in Sindh, Balochistan and south Punjab which have been badly affected by devastating floods and heavy rains.

The minister was informed that the monsoon rains and floods had caused heavy losses to most of the buildings of NRCs which were inundated by floodwater; however, the equipment has been saved and evacuated. Houses of 150 Nadra employees in those areas have been damaged.

Moreover, during the briefing, the chairman Nadra informed the minister that more than 37 million people have been affected due to floods and rains. He said heavy rains and flooding in certain areas had led to the loss of CNICs of affected people which would be needed to have an access to government’s relief disbursement and other activities.

With regard to the biker service, Mr Malik said initially the pilot phase of the service would be available in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. By the end of December this year, the biker service would be extended to all the districts of the country, he added.

He said the biker service was basically a portable Nadra centre that will walk into people’s lounges and register them on their premises saving them from the hassle of visiting the Nadra centres. Through this service, the female registration officers using scooties will also carry out registration of women.

Mr Malik told the minister that he had been working on out-of-box solutions with a prime focus on creating hand-on facilitation and hassle-free registration for general public in a bid to accommodate more than 125,000 footfall daily at 771 Nadra centres across the country.

Long queues at Nadra registration centres, especially in major cities led him to go an extra mile by successfully establishing 97 new NRCs and adding more than 100 new MRVs in the existing fleet within past 10 months.

The interior minister said the Nadra chairman had set a new benchmark globally by creating public facilitation regime through the implementation of international standards and world’s best practices at Nadra.

He said after a wide network of Nadra registration centres (NRCs), mobile registration vans (MRVs) and online Pak identity service/mobile app to cater to register citizens, the introduction of the Nadra biker shall bring Nadra’s services to people’s homes.

The minister directed the chairman that facilities should be introduced in small towns across all provinces. Nadra biker service is a great facility and its network should be spread throughout the country, said the minister.

The minister also directed that the scope of online facilities for overseas Pakistanis should also be expanded. He asked the chairman to develop an automated system to register newborn children.

Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2022