ISLAMABAD: Around 1.1 million flood affectees are being compensated through Watan Cards in second phase of Citizen's Damage Compensation Programme (CDCP).
So far around 0.322 million flood affected persons have been given more than Rs. 6.2 billion in second phase of Watan Card project as second tranche of compensation.
A senior official on Wednesday told APP that the CDCP is now being successfully executed by Cabinet Division (Emergency Relief Cell) with the technical support of National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and in collaboration with Provincial Disaster Management Authorities (PDMAs).
The official said Rs. 40,000 (in two installments) has to be provided to each of the households identified by the provinces.
He said July 2010 floods were a disaster of unprecedented scale, which affected 80 districts and nearly 10% of Pakistan's population of about 18 million people over a vast geographical area.The tragedy destroyed approximately 1.6 million homes and damaged 2.4 million hectares of crops.
He said first phase of Watan Card was launched in September 2010, whereby the government has already distributed an initial tranche of Rs. 20,000 among 1.75 million affected families in order to provide immediate relief.
Disbursements to beneficiaries were done through the Watan Card mechanism with the support of partner Commercial Banks.
NADRA has developed a transparent programme design, using modern biometric technology and established 131 Watan Card Facilitation Centers (WCFCs) throughout the affected districts.
Giving further details of second phase cash disbursement, he said NADRA issued 95,796 Watan Cards in Punjab to disburse around Rs. 1.549 billion.
He said in Sindh, the number of Watan Cards issued is 8,272 with a disbursed amount of Rs. 40.73 million while in Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa, the number of Watan Cards issued stood at 210,993 with disbursed amount of Rs.4.56 billion.
The official said in Azad Kashmir, 3,075 Watan Cards were issued with disbursement of Rs. 49.69 million while five NADRA sites were set up in Hattian, Haveli, Mirpur, Neelum and Rawalakot.
He said in Gilgit-Baltistan 3,200 cards were issued with disbursement of R. 63.49 million and three sites were established in Gilgit, Hunza and Skardu.
The official said that only around 500 beneficiaries remain to be processed in Mardan while the disbursement in Pabbi, Tangi and Mardan is very low or nil since last few days.
Tangi and Pabbi centers can be closed and the remaining caseload can be processed at Charsadda and Nowshera respectively while the resources can be utilized at any other WCFC where we need them like Kohistan, Battagram etc. to facilitate the beneficiaries, he added.
Answering a question, the official said NADRA has covered more than 90percent caseload of CDCP Phase-II beneficiaries pertaining to Haveli, Hattian, Neelum, Mirpur, Rawalakot of AJK, Gilgit, Hunza, Skardo of Gilgit-Baltistan, Charsada, Mardan, Noshera, D.I.Khan, Harripur, Lower Dir, LakkiMarwat, Kohat and Hangu of Khyber Pakhtukhwa, Mianwali, Jhang, Khushab, Bhakkar, Dera GhaziKhan of Punjab.
Role of donor agencies was lauded as second phase of the CDCP is being supported by four donors including USAID, DFID, the government of Italy and the World Bank with a total allocation of US $ 580 million, of which government of Pakistan is contributing US$ 100 million.
He said the World Bank has been assigned the lead donor agency for this effort, adding that as much as R. 34 billion in Phase-I has already been disbursed across the country in all the provinces including Gilgit-Baltistan and AJK with contributions from the Federal government as well as the provinces.
However, he said the initial payment of R. 20,000 under Phase-1 is unlikely to be sufficient for recapitalization of assets given the extent of damage and loss, necessitating the graduation of CDCP into Phase-II which aims to assist the flood-affected households in rebuilding their lives beyond immediate relief.
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