MUZAFFARGARH, March 6: Uneducated people are facing a great deal of inconvenience in getting computerised national identity cards (CNICs) from the offices of National Database and Registration Authority in Muzaffargarh district because of their inability to produce computerised birth certificates.

Dawn has learnt that according to the new Nadra direction, under-matriculate people should bring their computerised birth certificates from their respective union councils, but no UC of this district has any system to this effect.

There are 93 UCs in this district and its population is about three million.

A Nadra official said: “Over 200 people visit the office daily and go away without their identity cards.”

Ghazi Ghat union nazim Nasir Almani said: “Many old people come to him daily and ask for a computerised birth certificate. No UC has any computerised record and no computer, so how can we fulfil their requirement.” Councillor Bilal Rodni told this correspondent that many people wanted to go to Saudi Arabia for Umra and Hajj but they were facing problem for CNIC.

When contacted, Nadra official at Muzaffargarh tehsil, Mohammad Jaffer, said he had received a letter from Islamabad head office, asking them not to issue CNIC without computerised birth certificates.

“The minimum education requirement is matriculation, but under-matriculates must bring computerised birth certificate,” he said.

Allah Bux residing in Ghazi Ghat UC said this year he wanted to go for Umra and visit Iran, but he had no computerised birth certificate, and the Nadra office refused to entertain him.

“There is no computerised system in this union council, and now I will have to go to Multan for this purpose,” Bux said.

Meanwhile, dozens of men and women in Kot Addu tehsil have protested against Nadra officials for not issuing them identity cards.