NADRA facilitating citizens through different innovative services

Islamabad: National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has registered over 11.6 million citizens into its database during last seven months, out of which 2.26 million received their identity document free of cost.

The identity category types such as Computerized or Smart National Identity Cards (CNIC/SNIC), Family and Child Registration and Pakistan Origin Card (POC) have seen a significant increase in number of applications processed in comparison to same period of previous year.

A push for newer and secure Smart ID Card led to an increase of over half a million applicants in 2018. Similarly, Mobile Registration Vans (MRVs) deployed in both urban and rural areas registered over one million citizens, with a significant increase in registration of females and differently abled persons.

A data issued here revealed that NADRA has also taken substantial strides in improving its service delivery, with primary focus on operational enhancements in the field. Whilst establishing an online web-based online application system known as Pak-Identity that has enabled 317,307 applicants to process their ID cards from comfort of their homes and offices. The establishment of eight mega centres in all major metropolis across the country has turned out to be a catalyst to change and provided general public to access state-of-the-art facilities of NADRA round the clock.

The Authority also augmented its existing infrastructure and has successfully converted over 300 Registration Centres (NRCs) to One Window Operation in order to expedite processing times and reduce queues for ease of citizens.

Moreover, a special attention was given to major issues being faced by general public i. e denial of service, long waiting-time and queues, long processing time and lack of allied facilities at NRCs.

The incumbent Chairman has taken holistic measures to transform NRCs to next-generation infrastructure and operations, especially in southern Punjab, interior Sindh and Karachi. Due to certain measures, the processing in respective region has increased manifold from 5,000 token per day to maximum 17,000 token per day.

The Authority is also undertaking large scale IT- related projects both nationally and internationally to add to its already extensive IT portfolio. On international stage, NADRA has established its foothold by deploying IT solutions to many governments in various countries.

The most recent endeavour was in Fiji where NADRA has developed an Election Management System for Fijian government. Additionally, NADRA is carrying out important projects in African continent, providing an e-Passport solution to Kenya that was inaugurated by Kenyan President, civil registration system in Sudan and most recently a National Identification System for government of Somalia.

Due to competitive bidding processes of international tenders, NADRA international projects portfolio not only exemplifies industry expertise in IT field that is internationally recognized but has also contributed to more than 3.5 million dollars of business revenue.

On national level, NADRA has been spearheading a project for Computerization of arms licenses for Federal, Punjab and Sindh which has led to a more secure and transparent mechanism for issuance of licenses across the country.

Moreover, NADRA has also been active in war-stricken areas such as former FATA where millions of persons were displaced and required financial assistance. Cash disbursement systems were set up by NADRA for livelihood support and child wellness in partnership with World Bank.

At Union Council level, NADRA established 669 new Civil Registration and Management System (CRMS) sites (total of 7893 sites) for computerization of birth, death, marriage and divorce records.

Under direction and guidance of Supreme Court of Pakistan, NADRA has also played a significant role in ensuring that democratic right to vote is protected and extended to all citizens, even those residing overseas.

During by-polls for Pakistan General Elections of 2018, an Internet Voting System was developed by NADRA to allow for many expatriate Pakistanis living abroad to cast their vote online.

The expatriates were able to successfully cast their vote online for their respective constituencies. The Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme is another large-scale project which aims to improve lives of many, as5 million citizens will be granted affordable housing by government of Pakistan.

In just a matter of three months, NADRA successfully completed pilot phase and digitized 500,000 housing forms of prospective applicants. Similarly, as Pakistan aims to open up its borders to the world, NADRA has also developed a Pakistan Online Visa System that will issue visas to potential travellers to Pakistan with a simple click of a button. All visa category types are offered on this system to citizens of over 175 countries across the world.