KARACHI, Aug 11: The National Database Registration Authority (Nadra) has said that the production of computerized National Identity Cards, which had been stopped owing to the non-availability of card material, has recommenced and is in full swing.
According to a Nadra press release here on Sunday, 83,000 computerized Sindhi language ID cards have recently been handed over to post offices for onward distribution to the interior of Sindh.
It said that the Fauji Foundation has also started producing the CNICs at full pace after a brief stoppage.
It stated that about 28 million people have submitted their ID card forms. The national data warehouse has been provided with the data of approximately 22.2 million adults. The remaining forms are said to be under process. Nadra is operating in a paper-less environment through out the country. This means that all the 22.2 million forms and the data contained in them has been digitalized and is available wherever it is required.
ID Cards for 12.6 million people have been produced through the Fauji Foundation’s Nadra card manufacturing contractor, and more than 10.2 million people have received their ID cards. The number of rejected cards received to date is approximately 200,000, which is 1.6 per cent of the total cards produced. It is considered that a margin of error of 2 to 3pc is an acceptable figure.
Nadra acknowledged in the press release that more than 70,000 forms were lost from May to September 2001. This was mainly due to inadequate controls, corruption and inefficiency at all echelons of the operation, though remedial measures have been taken.
Nadra have stepped up their operations in the light of the Election Commission’s desire to issue computerized NICs to all eligible voters by Oct 5. The press release claimed that Nadra is not in any hurry for the issuance of identity cards. Rather, it was focusing on the authenticity of the computerized cards to eliminate the menace of bogus or fake cards.
Despite the capacity of issuing 100,000 identity cards per day, Nadra preferred to issue error-free cards with authenticity and accuracy in a gradual fashion.
According to the release, Nadra is doing its best to ensure that every eligible voter acquires an identity card before the elections if he does not posses an old ID card. Those who do not have any ID card at all can get a temporary card made from the Nadra offices after providing their ID details.
It said that arrangements have already been made for fresh applicants, and that Nadra’s provincial headquarters and regional headquarters have been directed to complete the necessary preparations for this activity. The booking of forms is already in process at the DROs special counters.
These forms will be processed separately in special batches, which will be processed on a priority basis to meet the deadline.
Electoral rolls for the national and provincial assemblies have been prepared under the supervision of the Election Commission. This colossal work of updating the rolls after each phase of the electoral process, having more than 72 million records followed by the printing of more than 25 million pages, was carried out by a highly technical, fully accountable and indigenously developed system.