Nadra orders review of Nicop contract,scheme may be shelved

LONDON: The new Chairman of the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) has ordered a radical review of the contract of Nadra’s Smart National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis (Nicop) over combined security and community apprehensions, The News has reliably learnt.
Trusted sources in Nadra have informed this correspondent that after returning from London, Tariq Malik, the new Nadra boss who took charge a week ago, has taken serious notice of the controversy surrounding the signing of the Nicop contract with overseas companies of dubious credentials.
This happened after The News highlighted, through a series of articles over a year, security fears over the possible leakage of details of Pakistani citizens to third parties, the dissatisfaction within the expatriate communities and the explicit non-professionalism of the very company which has been granted the contract to provide services across UK cities with high Pakistani populations
It is learnt that the decision to review – and most possibly scarp the contract altogether – was taken at a hurriedly called top level meeting in Islamabad chaired by Tariq Malik, who was astonished at the level of opposition to the scheme he witnessed during his interaction with the community last Sunday here.
The contract has been granted to a company called the International Identity Services (UK) Limited (“IIS”), owned by the son of Mian Afzal Khalid, who is also Chairman of the PPP’s Federal Council, UK.
A source at Nadra’s London office confided to The News on Saturday: “The review has been ordered as far as the partnership with overseas entities is concerned, including the IIS contract.
The Nadra chairman has asked for a review and questioned why Nadra needs a partner in the UK when the same can be done by the Nadra itself through Pakistani missions abroad, which have been
successfully providing the services to the community without any complaints and problems.”
The news of the review will come as a serious blow to a senior member of the federal cabinet, former Nadra management and other Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) stalwarts who took personal interest in ensuring that this deal was done and thus ended in the hands of a senior PPP leader in the UK.
It is very likely now that as a result of the review the contract with the new partner will be shelved.
“It is certain that this scheme cannot go on like this. It has been acknowledged that mistakes were made and things were hurried but nothing much is lost. Control is still in Nadra’s hands,” added the source.
During the meeting in Islamabad, said the source, the stock of the situation was taken and it was decided that every measure shall be taken to ensure that the new smart cards are provided to the community on even cheaper rates and that the rates shall not increased.
“The meeting decided to soon come up with ways to provide these cards on subsidsed rates to Pakistanis,” the source said.
During the launch ceremony, it was announced that public facilitation centres in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Bradford and Glasgow and the rest of Europe will be opened but after the intervention of the Nadra DG, all plans are postponed until the completion of the ordered review.