The Nadra story

Nadra, Pakistans citizen registration body is widely held as an island of excellence in the public sector. The organization has been successful in staying its independent course since its formation in early 2000s. In a recent case-study for the Center for Global Development, a US-based non-profit think-tank, Nadras former chairman, Tariq Malik, has written at length about the organizations achievements in recent past.
Titled "Technology in the Service of Development," Malik shares that Nadra has been able to register over 98 percent of Pakistans adult population. Thats a stellar accomplishment. Based on his essay, one could pin down a select number of factors behind this success story.
First is the institutional autonomy. Governments, starting with Musharraf regime which created Nadra through an ordinance in 2000, have largely kept hands off its internal matters. It is perhaps understood that citizen registration is a serious and sensitive issue.
Second factor is the continuing resolve of successive Nadra chairmen to avoid government budgetary support. That decision is both unique and difficult in Pakistans PSE-context. But it proved to be one that led to the sustainability and self-empowerment: Over the years, Nadra has used an innovative business model of revenue-generation and cross subsidization to fund its core operations. According to Malik, revenues in 2013 were three times the amount in 2008.
Third is Nadras innovative ways to keep its now 18,000+ employees honest and motivated. Average salary at Nadra had increased by 131 percent between 2008 and 2013, as per Malik. He cites one particular instance of unscrupulous staff taking money to help folks jump the registration queue. Nadra came up with a solution where applicants could pay Rs1100 fee for fast-track processing and staff would receive bonuses for facilitating such transactions.
Fourth is the deep-rooted use of technology to scale up the citizen services. Use of information technology complemented the efforts of staff in static centers, mobile vans and semi-mobile units, Malik notes, and led to issuance of more than 98 million CNICs as of 2014, 44 percent of which are women. With 118 million facial images and 503 million fingerprints, the former chairman states that Nadras digital gallery ranks among the worlds largest multi-biometric databases.
Fifth is the focus on women and marginalised communities. Under Maliks stewardship, Nadra deployed gender-sensitive solutions - like women-only registration centers and mobile vans with women drivers - and the result was that between 2008 and 2013, growth in women CNIC registration was 104 percent, higher than mens (65 %). Similarly, registration of minorities was expedited.
Story is incomplete without Nadra Technologies Limited (NTL), Nadras subsidiary, which also bids for international contracts for technology-based identity solutions. The firm has hit worldwide fame after successfully delivering solutions in Bangladesh, Kenya, Nigeria, Sri Lanka and Sudan. As per Malik, its 2013 revenues were $17.6 million. (For more on NTL, read BR Research interview with Saleem Rafik, DG Operations, Nadra Technologies Limited, published June 27, 2014).
Malik mentioned that nearly 30 million Pakistanis received their CNICs without any fee between 2008 and 2013. It seems that was accomplished in part due to the financial space created by NTLs projects.
The Nadra story, as Malik calls it, has many lessons for the public sector to emulate: efficiency, self-sustenance, technology-use, forward-looking management, etc. But even Nadra can do more if the government can assist in further employing its biometric-IT solutions.
For instance, Malik identified that simply weeding out false identities from public pension and payroll and other transfers can lead to savings worth Rs50 billion a year. Federal government must pay heed; this is instant saving without much work!