More than 40pc Karachi NICs on hold in Islamabad

Director Nadra denies; Awami Markaz overloaded with agents

KARACHI: The Nadra headquarters has held applications for national identity cards of more than 40 percent residents of Karachi due to petty issues for the past few months.

According to some sources of Nadra, the deputed staff in Karachi raises many objections while issuing national identity cards and applicants are made to visit the premises for several weeks. When details are finally submitted and data is sent to Islamabad, the applicants face many objections from Islamabad.

It is surprising to note that the staff doesn’t even shy away from raising undue objections on the extension of national identity cards and that too for petty reasons. On the other hand, Nadra’s all offices, especially the one in Awami Markaz, are overloaded with agents. It shows that even after the arrest of many Nadra officials, lesson has not been learnt yet.

Many people appear at the Awami Markaz office of Nadra to file their applications and stand there for hours under the scorching sun to submit their documents. However, after long hours of struggle, they are sent home by raising undue objections.

 On the other hand, people who take the help of agents remain at peace. Their applications are submitted without any trouble of standing in queues. It is important to note that an agent charges Rs2,000 or Rs3,000 per person for the extension of a national identity card or for issuance of a new card through the B Form.

FIA Anti-Human Trafficking Circle, Karachi, has registered 28 cases against Nadra in the past few months. Some 15 inquiries are already in progress. Around 15 Nadra officials have been arrested in these cases. Many of the arrested officials have also been taken to the apex court and released on bails.

The acting director of Nadra, Maqsood, said that these accusations were false. He said that there was no amount of truth in these allegations, and verifications were made on case to case basis.